Sairento Hiruzu
by The Samurai Prince
Summary: A mysterious group breaks out Ozai and Azula from their prison. They go over to an island off the south coast of the Fire Nation, and the Gaang is right on their trail. Arriving on the island, an abandoned resort town is settled there where things are not what they seem when they enter it. When they enter "Silent Hills"...there's no turning back. Collab with Lucius Walker. [EDITED]
1. Prologue: Silent Hills

**UUUUUUGH! WHY DO I DO THIS!? THIS HAS SUCH GREAT POTENTIAL AND I _HAVE_ TO DO IT!**

 _ **However**_ **, this is just a prologue! JUST...A PROLOGUE, DO YOU HEAR ME!? So I'm sorry, this is just a short chapter. This is just a taste of what I'm doing with this concept/crossover. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND, that I will not be doing this as of right now, as I have plenty of more things to write. I'm sorry, as much as you'll probably think this has potential as well, I need to put it on hold for me to work on my other stuff. But really, I had to do this. I thought of it and I thought, "...Yeah...that could work.".**

 **So without further ado...I present you this ATLA/SH fused crossover...thing.**

 **Actually, should I even put this in the ATLA fanfic archive? Is this considered a crossover? Someone do tell me. :O**

 **Either way, here's the disclaimer. Yaaaaay...**

 **I'm never gonna get my stuff done. X(**

 **DISCLAIMER: Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Nick and Mike and Bryan(and in extent, Aaron Ehasz). Silent Hill is owned by Konami and Team Silent. I only own this story, so don't go suing me for stupid reasons. XP**

 **[REVISED: 12/16/2019]**

* * *

 **~o~o~o~o~**

… _ **This place...this special, tranquil, serene place...**_

 _ **So peaceful...so quiet...I feel at ease here...**_

 _ **The Spirits must really bless this place...it**_ **has** ** _to be sacred to have this kind of wonderful feeling._**

 _ **Everything is just so...calm.**_

 _ **The mountains...the lake...the beach...the forests...everything.**_

 _ **I love it here...I forget all the troubles that hinder me.**_

 _ **This is**_ **paradise.**

 _ **I love this town...this whole island.**_

 _ **I want to go back to this place someday...**_

 _ **Our special place...**_

 _ **Sairento Hiruzu.**_

 **~o~o~o~o~**

 _ **SAIRENTO HIRUZU**_

 **~o~o~o~o~**

The Fire Nation has an island it owns a little off the lower south coast. It was discovered one-hundred and sixty-five years ago.

It has beautiful terrain, with three mountainous hills surrounding a peaceful lake, serene greenery covering the island, as well as a gorgeous beach.

The settlers who once lived there were mesmerized by the beauty of the island, much different than the volcanic mountains that litter the Fire Nation. It was such a peaceful and quiet area that there had to be a town built there...

And so they did.

With what resources they have there on the island and the funding of the growing Fire Nation, they built small homes near the lake. It then grew into a small town ten years later, with its own town hall, police force, jail, and an infirmary. The island was named _Sairento Hiruzu_ , while the town was aptly named "Silent Hills". When the town kept growing, the townspeople thought it had the potential to become a resort town, with its beautiful landscape and scenery being the selling point.

As it came to fruition, Silent Hills became the Fire Nation's first resort town.

As ten more years passed, Sairento Hiruzu Island grew into a more luxurious resort, having even more people visiting the island. Many amenities were there, such as hiking, boating, archery, beaching, and lodging. Soon, as forty years have passed, the town grew as it added an amusement park, a grand hotel, a theater, and multiple stores and shops, along with other attractions. Silent Hills was becoming _the_ destination spot for families and couples.

...Until tragedy struck four years later after the town's completion.

A married Fire Nation family, husband and wife, along with their baby boy, lived in Sairento Hiruzu Island. Their marriage was deteriorating, so much that the wife was having an affair...the husband grew angry when he found out. It results in bitter words...and then violence. The husband then brutally murdered his wife...and soon, feeling like his whole marriage was a lie, killed his infant son as well. Upon realizing what he has done, he burned his home down with him in it.

While the town was recovering from the tragedy, the man who had an affair with the wife of the husband, was filled with so much guilt, that he hung himself.

Soon, ten years have passed, and the town suddenly became a breeding ground of horrible events, such as crime and unknown plagues. The town and island became progressively worse, as it soon transformed from a resort, into a dark and dreadful place. There were many unexplained casualties and tragedies there as well. While the remaining locals try to salvage what was left of the town and their economy, many people have heard of the happenings on the island and stopped coming to the resort town. Many years have passed, and tourists no longer came to the island. Only the townspeople remained in Silent Hills. There was no laughter or joy left there. The once vibrant resort town residing on the island still remains lifeless this day.

Much time had passed, and the location was becoming a distant and forgotten memory...

...All except for the people that still live on Sairento Hiruzu Island.

They are still attached to this place...as if it was calling them to never leave. The beauty...the serenity...the majesty of this island.

They stayed there on that glorious island...

They stayed...in that town of Silent Hills.

...They _**stayed**._

* * *

 **End of Prologue**

* * *

 **OKAY! Just a little something for you to wait on! I'm not gonna come back to this after I update some more chapters from my stories, so don't hold your breath everyone! XP**

 **Alrighty! Now that I got this out of the way, what DO you think of it? Is it interesting? Does it have potential? Please do tell me with a review, as well as giving me a fave and follow! Also, tell me if I should put this in the crossover section or not? ^^;**

 **Thank you all for reading, and until next time: Keep on rocking everybody! :D**

 **-TSP**


	2. 1: Weary

**[EDIT: 11/6/2019]**

* * *

Zuko was tired.

He stood in front of a mirror, looking at his reflection while wearing his red night robes.

He _looked_ tired.

His right eye looked like it had a bag underneath, while his left burnt scarred face remained the same. Taking a deep sigh, he raised his left hand to touch the top of his scar and traced his fingers down on the left side of his face.

Two days...it's been two days since his father escaped from prison.

There was a breakout in the Capital City Prison, resulting in some guards to lose their lives or be severely injured. Apparently, early in the morning, a group of fire-benders decided to break out the 'true' Fire Lord.

 _'Of course...'_ Zuko thought bitterly.

Not only that, but Ozai gathered up some followers while he stayed there. His father rounded up ex-soldiers who once served him, as well as criminals who respected him. But worst of all, Azula was free too and joining them in this rebel cause as well. Now his father, Azula, and these prisoners could be anywhere in the world. His intelligence officers around the country are hard at work trying to find the airship that they were riding on, which from what Zuko heard, this group stole from one of the officers.

Zuko shook his head, _'How could I be so foolish?'_

He should've sent his father to the Boiling Rock...actually, would it even matter? He and even Azula would've been able to escape anyways by some matter or means.

It had been the beginning of Spring, the time of new beginnings. However, this was not the beginning he envisioned when he took the crown. The war was over, but that doesn't mean everything was all as it should be. Tensions rise as the people of the Fire Nation felt doubtful of Zuko's decisions when he took the position of Fire Lord. Nations were wary of his political experience because of his age, but he learned the best advice from his uncle Iroh. But even if it was good advice, it didn't resonate well with his people.

He wished his Nation would understand. They need to know that this is a time of peace. They need to move forward, they can't live in the past.

The past...as well as moving forward. For Zuko, that's easier said than done.

He still hadn't found his mother. While he was ruling, he asked his father in prison where she could be, but Ozai only gave him false leads every time. At that point, Zuko decided to just forget about asking his father and try to find her instead. But even then, he didn't have any luck in finding her. He was starting to wonder if she was truly gone.

He closed his eyes and scowled.

 _'I can't give up hope...'_

A couple of knocks emerged from the doors to his bedchambers.

"Fire Lord Zuko?" a muffled male voice behind the closed doors interrupted his thoughts.

Zuko opened his eyes and turned to the doors. "You may enter."

One of the double doors opened and his advisor, Hari, came in. "Good morning, My Lord."

Zuko nodded, "Good morning, Hari. May I ask if there is any information on where my father, sister, and the escapees are located?"

"Actually, there is. We just received word that they've been sighted," Hari said with a small smile.

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Where are they? Where was the information gathered?"

"The very south of the Fire Nation. They spotted an airship early this morning going out to the sea."

"To the sea?" Zuko muttered in slight interest and confusion.

"Yes. There's," Hari paused to think, "...I think there's an island located just little ways south of the port village of Shua."

"Hmm...are there anyone residing on that island?"

Hari frowned, "I...think."

Zuko noticed Hari's expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no, My Lord, I, uh, I was just...wondering if they landed on _that_ island." Hari mused.

Zuko raised a brow, " _That_ island? What do you mean?"

"Oh, well," Hari cleared his throat, "There's, uh...there's this infamous island town that's known to be a seedy place."

"Really? What's the town and island called?"

"I think the island itself is called...Sairento Hiruzu, My Lord. As for the town, it's named Silent Hills. It used to be a resort town."

"A resort town? Like Ember Island?" Zuko asked.

"Yes," Hari nodded. He looked at him curiously. "You...haven't heard of the stories of Sairento Hiruzu from times past?"

"Um...no. Should I have?" Zuko wondered.

"Well, not particularly. The...well, the island and its town itself is really something the Fire Nation wishes to forget." Hari informed.

Zuko blinked at that sentence, "What exactly happened there?"

"A lot of things actually. Murders, rapes, shady business deals, all the like, just to name a few," Hari explained as he cringed.

"Huh...sounds like a criminal's paradise," Zuko muttered.

"Which is why we think they're there right now in hiding," speculated Hari, "What are your orders, My Lord?"

The young Fire Lord gave him a nod. "In that case, I'm going to write a letter to one of the Fire-Benders Special Ops Team in the southern base of the country to retrieve my father and sister, as well as the escapees. I'll advise them to proceed to Sairento Hiruzu Island with caution. Once I've written it, I'll give it to you to deliver it to the messenger hawk station."

"Understood. Anything else, My Lord?"

"No. That would be all, Hari."

Hari nodded in obedience with a smile. "I'll wait for your command, then," he then exited the room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as his advisor left, he turned back to his mirror. Staring at his reflection once more, he contemplated on the only family - besides Iroh - he had left. He wondered what they were planning as of right now, and who this group was that broke them out. Whoever they were, they must've lived on this Sairento Hiruzu Island.

Speaking of Iroh, he wishes he could use some of his advice right now...about all of this pressure and doubt...

 _'I hope I'm following the right path here...'_

He was so in thought, that he didn't hear the door open again.

Zuko sighed, "I wish Uncle was here right now."

"You called?"

Startled, Zuko turned around to see his Uncle Iroh who just entered his room.

"Uncle!"

"Hello there, my Nephew!" Iroh greeted with a warm smile.

"Uncle, you're here!" Zuko said with delighted surprise.

They approached each other and exchanged hugs, Iroh chuckling as he said, "Well, of course! I came by to see how the Fire Lord is doing with all this drama going on."

Letting go of their hug, Zuko smiled, "Thank you for coming over here, Uncle."

"Oh, no problem at all!" Iroh said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, "I can take a day off at my Jasmine Dragon location in Ba Sing Se anytime! So, how is everything here in the palace, if I may ask? I mean...besides the prison breakout?" he asked a little sheepishly.

Groaning, Zuko shook his head, "It's been stressful. But we found where Father, Azula, and the prison escapees might be hiding."

"Oh? Well, what did your resources say?"

"They might be hiding in an island called Sairento Hiruzu in a town called Silent Hills. It's said to be a place of crime, I heard."

"Silent Hills on Sairento Hiruzu Island?" Iroh asked in surprise. "They're going _there_?"

"Apparently so. I've sent a special ops group to retrieve them, so I can only hope they'll be able to apprehend them."

"Hmm...Sairento Hiruzu, you say?" Iroh asked as he stroke his beard.

Zuko blinked, "Um, yeah..."

"Hm...I haven't heard that name in a long time."

"You heard of the island before?"

"Oh yes, I have. Back when I was little at the Royal Academy, I've learned about the Nation's history, and Sairento Hiruzu came up. It has...a very _dark_ past from what I remembered. Some even say the island is cursed."

"Cursed?" Zuko raised an eyebrow.

"Mm-hmm. And from what I've heard, the Island is supposed to be a sacred place."

"A sacred place? What's it sacred for?"

"Well, basically, it's just a very beautiful and quiet area from what I heard, hence the name Silent Hills. It's also the only place in the Fire Nation that has no volcanic activity. And as said before, the island itself is said to be a magnificent sight on its own..." Iroh shook his head and sighed, "Such a shame it has had such a troubled past."

"Well, even though this island suffered a bad reputation, I won't let it deter me to find my father and the others."

"Hm...so you're sending a special ops fire-bending team to find them?"

"Yes. I made sure to let them proceed with caution. I don't know if there will be a fight on our hands or if this island will have any experienced fire-benders on it, but I can only hope we can keep the place secure."

"Well, it's good to know that you are letting the soldiers proceed with caution. Did you let them bring any good luck charms or anything with them?"

Zuko looked at him oddly, "Um...Uncle, are you implying that there _is_ some sort of curse on this Sairento Hiruzu Island?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know if there is one. As I mentioned, I only heard of the place; never went there. But you never know; there could be some truth to these sort of things."

"Uncle, there's no such thing as curses," Zuko said while rolling his eyes.

Iroh frowned, "Be careful, Zuko. You can never know what could be real and what could be an illusion."

Zuko sighed, "Look, I trust the team will do its job on apprehending my father and Azula, as well as rounding up the other escaped prisoners."

"Oh don't worry, I trust they will too," Iroh said. He looked at Zuko with slight empathy and melancholy in his eyes, however, "So, how is being Fire Lord, really?"

"Ugh," Zuko groaned, "As I said before, _stressful_. Everyone just can't seem to move forward in this country."

"Well, it is a big change to accept."

"I know, but...I just..." the young Fire Lord sighed as his posture slumped.

Iroh frowned at his nephew, noticing his dejected state, "Something else is bothering you, is there?"

Zuko winced, "...I'm just...thinking about mother. Wherever she may be."

"Oh," Iroh nodded, "Hmm...well, all I can say is that you shouldn't lose hope, Zuko. I'm certain she is still alive."

"I know. Father at least said that much. But..." Zuko grunted, "He hasn't told me anything useful. I'm just going around in circles. And...if she is alive, I want to know where she is and why she...hasn't decided to come back home..." Zuko frowned dejectedly.

Sensing his sorrow, Iroh came up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Zuko, your mother loves you. She even loves Azula and your father at one point. She would come back to you in an instant if not for the circumstances,"

"But the circumstances are lifted, Uncle. It's been six or seven months, so why hasn't she come back here yet?"

"These things take time, my Nephew. It _has_ been three years since your banishment. Maybe she started a new life with a new name."

Zuko's frown went deeper, "You're saying that she abandoned all of us?"

"No, Zuko, you know I don't mean that," Iroh clarified, "I mean, how else would she hide from your father?"

Lowering his head, Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep sigh, "I know...I just...I really want to find her."

"I know, Zuko," Iroh squeezed his shoulder in comfort, "And she really does love all of you. Just believe in hope, and you will find her."

"Hmm..." Zuko nodded but looked unsure.

"...There's something else, is there?"

"...Uncle...am I...doing a good job at being the Fire Lord?"

Iroh looked at his nephew in earnest. After a couple of seconds, he said, "Zuko...never doubt yourself. You are doing absolutely well, far better than any other Fire Lord back in my day. People will realize that their old ways have passed and the vision of hope will soon come to them. And _you_ , Zuko, are the reason that hope exists."

Zuko's face remained unchanging, until he said, "Thank you, Uncle."

"I mean it. Do not think I am saying encouraging words to you. These words that I've told you are _true._ "

Zuko gave out a small smile. "I'll keep what you've said in mind, Uncle."

Iroh patted his shoulder and lets go of it, giving him a smile as well, "Do not be intimidated by the challenges ahead, my Nephew. You _will_ conquer them."

"Thank you, Uncle. I'm happy to know that you have faith in me."

"Of course I do. But you also must have faith in _yourself_."

"...I'll keep that in mind as well, Uncle."

Smiling warmly, Iroh nodded, "Good. How about you join me for some tea? That'll relax your nerves."

Zuko chuckled, "You know what? Tea sounds really good right about now."

"Excellent!" said a thrilled Iroh. "It has been so long since we had tea together! Maybe we can talk about what kind of woman you're looking for!"

Zuko groaned, "Uncle...I'm seventeen. I can't look for a wife right now."

"Oh, come on! Let us at least talk about it like guys!" Iroh nudged him teasingly in the ribs.

Rubbing his ribs and shaking his head, Zuko gave in, "Okay, Uncle. Just let me get changed for the day. I haven't eaten any breakfast, so having something to snack on while drinking tea would be great."

"You haven't eaten any breakfast?" Iroh said curiously.

The young Fire Lord looked embarrassed. "I...basically didn't sleep well last night. I gave up pretty recently after it was close to the seventh morning hour before you came in. It was a tiring day yesterday."

"Well, I can't blame you on that. However, I can tell you one thing; you certainly are made to be Fire Lord if you can handle the pressure of this job. I don't think I could last a day!"

Chuckling at his uncle's encouragement, Zuko said, "Thanks. I'll be there in a moment, Uncle."

"Okay, just don't brood in here much longer," Iroh said waving his finger at him.

"I won't," Zuko said, rolling his eyes.

Iroh nodded with a smile, "Good. Well, I'll meet you in the tea room! Maybe then we can get some lunch and play a little pai-sho! I have to see if you've improved."

Zuko chortled, "Sure. Of course, Uncle."

Laughing softly, Iroh gave him a pat on the back and left Zuko's room.

Once Zuko is alone, he turned to his mirror as he looked at his reflection again. Seeing the scar on his right face, he stared at himself intently.

He opened one side of his front robe a bit to see the noticeable burnt spot on his abdomen that Azula stuck him with when he was protecting Katara.

Katara...he wondered how she's doing. He wondered how everyone else is doing. How they're holding up...

...Zuko sighed.

 _'I hope everyone's doing better than I am. Until then, I also hope that today and tomorrow would bring good fortune.'_

And with that, he got dressed for the day, hanging on for a brighter tomorrow.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 1**

* * *

 **Okay! That's the first chapter! Sorry it's so short, I felt like I really need to make it up to all of you readers out there after the prologue I just made. But no worries! Next time, I'll probably focus on either Katara and the others, or Azula and Ozai! Which one would you like to see? XD By the way, can you spot the SH character name references that I made? ;D**

 **But yeah, tell me if this catches your interest so far! Leave me a review, fave, and a follow if you want! I love them all! ^_^**

 **Until next time, keep on rocking everybody! See you later! ;)**

 **-TSP**


	3. 2: Hesitation

**[EDIT: 2/3/2019]**

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Azula heard one of the prisoners said in annoyance.

Azula turned her head briefly to glance at the prisoner who asked the question, the prisoner being a large and obese man in his early twenties with dark short hair, brown eyes, and a somewhat large nose. She believed his name was Edi. They all learned each other's names as two days went by while traveling through the Fire Nation. He was wearing the red outfits and dark shoes that belong to the Fire Nation prisons, much like she, her father, and the rest of the escapees were wearing.

Only four prisoners – six if you count Azula and Ozai - made it into the airship. The others were either captured or probably dead depending on how they must've fought back. These prisoners that were in the airship now weren't even followers of her father, they just wanted out. They pretty much looked average compared to the rough individuals that were in the prison, which to Azula, and probably Ozai was a big loss to getting strong recruiters to her father's 'uprising'.

Along with the obese prisoner named Edi who was sitting on the back row at the airship's seats, the other three were – another man and two women – were sitting in the seats as well. The other man who was in the same row of seats with Edi looked like to be in his late twenties and has short dark hair as well, his facial features a little handsome. He said that his name was Jemusu. He remained quiet throughout the trip, never saying much. He always seems to be in thought, for whenever he was spoken to, he asked to repeat it again.

The other two women were sitting in the second row below the men; a pretty young woman in her late teens with brown shoulder-length hair and soft brown eyes, also sat quietly in her seat. She seemed to look a little nervous, although, about what, Azula wasn't so sure. Her name was said to be Anjera. The last woman was quite attractive and had shoulder-length dark hair, piercing blue eyes, high cheekbones, and looked to be in her mid-twenties. This woman's name was said to be Meiria. She had her arms and leg crossed over her other leg, looking bored as she sat there.

"Almost. We're ten minutes there. You can all just relax for now," said a handsome man in his mid-twenties with nicely combed dark hair, wearing somewhat formal dark red clothes, as well as glasses on his face. He was the one driving the airship, holding onto the steering wheel.

Edi grunted, "Well, I'm getting hungry. We skipped breakfast, ya know?"

Azula decided to speak up at that point, "I have to agree. There better be food on this island."

"Calm yourself, Azula," said a calm but stern voice next to her left. The princess turned to the voice that belonged to none other than her father, Ozai, who sat there composed. "These people have freed us and we should be grateful. In due time, we shall overthrow your brother, and then you will reclaim your throne."

She remained silent for a moment, until she muttered, "Yes, Father," she turned her head forward as she waited for when they reach their destination.

"You can have some of my bread, your majesty," said an audibly quiet male voice.

She turned to the voice to her right, which belonged to a stringy brown-haired man in his early twenties. He was wearing a red long sleeved coat, along with a brown shirt underneath, and some black pants. He has a kind and handsome look to his face, his eyes showing no mischief, just sincere honesty as he smiles and held out a loaf of bread to her.

If she remembered, this man's name was Walteru. He has a tendency to stare at people when they weren't looking, and Azula noticed this. He even stares at her at times, which was quite...creepy if she was honest. Either way, they all introduced themselves when entering the ship, but she hasn't communicated with anyone else.

Azula looked at him in caution and glanced at the bread for a moment. It looked like ordinary bread, no mold or anything. Deciding she would take it, she glanced back at the man and hesitantly said. "Thank you..." she grabbed the loaf and began eating it.

"You're most welcome," Walteru said with a warm smile.

For some reason, his smile was unnerving to the princess.

In fact, all of this seemed too suspicious to her. While they were in the Capital City Prison, three days ago her father secretly told her that some people were going to break them out in the morning. He was direct and straight to the point, and Azula knows her father is not one to joke. When asking him how he got this information, he said someone gave him a coat as a gift along with a note that was slipped in one of the inside pockets, telling him they were breaking them out of there. He knew it was crazy to believe, and Azula had to agree on that, but he told her to get ready for anything in the morning just in case.

And it seemed he was right. Three men crashed an airship into the prison and they all came busting in with their fire-bending. They seemed to be really trained and started to take care of the guards as they rounded up her, Ozai, and everyone else. Azula fought mercilessly beside them, which the man Walteru backed her up by speeding through using his fire-bending boosts and making fire knives from his knuckles as he proceeded to slash and stab the guards' necks. The man named Vucen, who was driving the airship they were on right now, was also a good shot with his extremely fast fireballs that went through their armor, never giving them the chance to strike back. The last man, whose name is Maikera, was also a good shot as well, carrying a crossbow with him as he shot some soldiers in exposed places, as well as the head. He actually is the medic of the group just in case anyone got injured, which thankfully for all of them, no one did. Even the escapees fought back with some of their fire-bending but only used it to defend themselves, slightly injuring the guards in the process.

They soon stole a Fire Nation airship and along with Azula, her father, and the four other escapees, they flew over to their different isolated spots until they reached their destination that was coming up as of now.

As she kept eating the bread, she glanced around to see the other man named Maikera standing next to Vucen. The medic of the group looked older than the other two, his age probably somewhere in the early forties. He has short dark brown hair and has a mature square jawline, his appearance making him look like he had years of experience in the medical field. He stood by and watched everyone, for...whatever reason.

Actually, they did break them out of prison. It's understandable that he would be wary with prisoners on board, and Azula doesn't even know anyone of these escapees really well...which she can say the same for these people who had rescued them.

 _'I wonder what the note to my Father had said to make him believe he'll get his fire-bending back?'_

Her father quietly told her this bit of info as they landed somewhere isolated to hide from authorities the first night they were trying to escape. He said that these people who gave him the note have a way to bring back his fire-bending. While curious and somewhat skeptical, her father promised her that she will return to the throne as Fire Lord once these people will keep their end of the bargain. Not only do these mysterious rescuers will bring back his bending, but they said it will be even stronger than before like it once was at Sozin's Comet. Azula was still skeptical but didn't let her father know that. If he wants to believe there is a way to bring his fire-bending back, then she will support it...besides, she _wants_ to be Fire Lord. And Zuko will surely pay for stealing that title from her.

As she contemplates this, she swallowed a piece of her bread...still feeling eyes on her, she glanced at her right again and saw that Walteru was still staring at her, his warm smile still remaining.

"...Can I help you?" Azula asked, a little miffed by him still standing next to her.

Blinking, Walteru snapped out his daze, "Oh, I'm sorry, your majesty. I just...never have seen one of royalty eat so...delicately before."

Raising a brow, Azula looked at him curiously. "...Thank...you?"

Walteru rubbed the back of his head a little sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I, um...I tend to stare at times. I mean, I...uh...I-I'll leave you alone now."

And with that, he turned around and walked away from Azula's side, going towards the door that leads the airship's deck outside.

Azula's suspicious gaze followed him, and when he left the interior of the airship, she turned to her father and whispered, "Father...this seems odd."

"Although it may be, at least we are free from prison. And these people who've rescued us are capable fighters, so if we can, we can try to recruit them to our cause," Ozai said quietly.

"And what of the ones that escaped with us?" Azula asked, motioning her head to the people sitting behind them.

Ozai hummed softly. "We need supporters, so they'll have to do."

The Fire Nation princess turned her attention back at the windshield in silence. The passing skies were all that she sees for now, but in the far distance there seemed to be three mounds breaking through the clouds.

"Ah, I see it now. Home sweet home," Vucen said with a smile.

"I'll tell Walteru to come back inside," Maikera said as he went to the decks outside.

"Well, we're about to arrive in a little bit, everyone. Soon, we'll land in Sairento Hiruzu Island," Vucen announced.

Ozai's eyes widened just a tad, "Sairento Hiruzu Island, you say?"

"Oh, um, right. We haven't exactly told you the name of the island we're hiding in, haven't we? My apologies," Vucen said as he turned his head to glance at Ozai with an embarrassed smile, "But yes, we're hiding in Sairento Hiruzu Island, in the town of Silent Hills, our home."

"...Interesting. There are people still living there?" Ozai asked in curiosity.

Azula glanced at her father in confusion at the question.

"Oh, very much so," Vucen said as he turned his head back to the skies, "In fact, only me, my younger brother Walteru, Makeira, and three more people live in the town still."

Ozai raised an eyebrow, "Only six of you live on the island?"

"Well...yes..." Vucen said with a little bit of hesitation.

Azula glanced back at Vucen, intrigued. _'Interesting...he sounded a little too cautious,'_ she thought.

"Hmm...I heard the island had somewhat of a troubled past," Ozai mentioned.

"It has...we're trying to bring it back to its former glory," Vucen paused for a second, "How much have you heard about the town and the island?"

"I heard from the Royal Academy back when I was little that it was a cesspool of a place," Ozai stated.

"...Oh...well, at least we're in the history scrolls," Vucen murmured.

"Although, is it true what they say about the island? How that it's sacred ground?" Ozai asked.

Vucen smiled as he looked out the window that displays the hills through the skies, "That it is...perhaps we might've angered the spirits who inhabited the island when people started living there before us...either way, we respect the land and try to maintain it as beautiful as we can. It's the least we can do for the island and for the spirits who reside there."

"...I see," Ozai simply said.

"...Actually," Vucen turned his head to Ozai, "Um...if you could, your Highness, we would like it if you respect the land as best as you can when we land."

Ozai hummed and nodded, "Certainly."

Vucen nodded with a smile and went back to driving the airship. Maikera and Walteru came back inside and the airship became quiet once more as the engines roared outside.

Azula was quiet for a moment, until she asked in a curious whisper to Ozai, "Father, what is this Sairento Hiruzu Island about? Should we even be concerned?"

"I shouldn't worry too much about the island, Azula. It was just a place of crime and misfortunes, and whatever spirits that are on this island we are heading to, I have confidence in you that you will take care of the situation." Ozai told her.

"Thank you, Father, but...what about these people who rescued us? Can we trust them?" Azula asked.

"In due time, we will see. Either way, we are free from prison, and we should be thankful enough to get in good graces with them to serve our uprising" Ozai advised.

Azula could only hum in agreement. She turned her head to look at the escapees, who were still in their seats. Anjera sat there silently and Meiria examined her nails in the second row, while Edi had his arm propped on his knee, his hand on his chin, and Jemusu just sitting there. Jemusu then noticed the Fire Nation princess looking over where they were. He smiled and waved at her.

Sneering, Azula turned her head back at the windshield to see that they are now beginning to descend through the clouds.

Jemusu blinked and frowned in dejection. He turned to Edi and whispered, "She doesn't seem to be happy."

Edi scoffed and whispered back, "I don't see why she isn't happy. We just got out of prison, what more does she want?"

"Well...I think it's because she's not Fire Lord anymore. I mean, wasn't she Fire Lord at one time?" Jemusu speculated.

"Well, yeah, I think so, but still, it doesn't mean she has to act like high and mighty about it. I mean, she was in prison like the rest of us. Tch, I bet she thinks I'm nothing but a fat slob," Edi mumbles, "Like everyone else here does."

Jemusu frowned, "Hey, Edi, don't to do that to yourself, man. Come on, you can't let your weight define who you are. And you're lucky; you basically got ten years for just fire-bending a shot at that noble's pet. You would've gotten a longer sentence if you hadn't refrain yourself from killing the guy as well."

Edi didn't say anything then, until he grunted, "He was mocking me. And I feel like his dumb dog-lizard was too," he turned to Jemusu, "And what does it matter? I've only stayed in prison for like two days and escaped. If I ever get caught, my sentence will be even longer. I only did so because I don't want to waste my time in there," he glanced down at the floor and took a deep breath to sigh, "My mom was right. I won't amount to anything."

Jemusu looked at him in pity and said nothing.

After a moment of silence, Edi glanced at him for a moment, "What were you in prison for again?"

"...I was accused of killing my wife," Jemusu said quietly.

"...Did you?" Edi asked, a little wary.

Jemusu looked at Edi with wide eyes, "No!" he quietly exclaimed as he shook his head, "Of course I didn't! I love her too much to do anything remotely bad to her!"

Edi held up his hands in defense, "Whoa, hey, sorry! I was just asking, man."

Jemusu frowned at how he blew off on Edi like that, "I'm...I'm sorry, I just...I _didn't_ kill her, alright? She died because she was sick...the illness took her."

Lowering his hands down, Edi frowned as well, "Hey...I'm sorry."

"...Thanks," Jemusu said as he glanced down at his own two feet as he sat there.

"...How long have you been in prison?" Edi asked.

"...Just four days," Jemusu said.

"Huh...well, we've escaped prison, so we might as well enjoy this freedom while we can," Edi suggested.

"Yeah..." Jemusu said.

"...What do you think those girls did over there?" Edi asked.

"Huh?" Jemusu glanced at the two women who that were sitting the far left of the second row. "Um...you know, I really don't know. They kind of just arrived recently back at the prison as well."

"Hm..." Edi hummed and didn't say anything else.

The airship continued its descent onto the island...

* * *

A tan-skinned girl with flowing brown hair sat on a giant flying animal with her arms wrapped around knees. She looked out at the sea as they flew above it.

The sea...water...her element...she wished she can use it to heal all her inner problems away...

The girl sighed.

"You okay, Katara?" asked her brother's voice.

The girl in question, Katara, turned to look at her brother Sokka, who was sitting next to her with his hand on her shoulder. They were on Appa as of now, along with Suki, Toph, and Aang. Yesterday, they received word from a messenger hawk from Zuko while they stayed in Omashu to celebrate the city's Spring Festival. It came during nighttime, telling them the news of Ozai's sudden breakout. They all decided to rest and leave in the morning to go to the Capital City, their merriment having to be put on hold for a bit.

They are about halfway to the Fire Nation, with the only thing underneath them being the sea water. Aang was, of course, driving Appa, while Toph is relaxing on the saddle, chatting next to Suki who was sitting next to her as she chatted with her as well.

"Oh. Yeah, Sokka, I'm...I'm fine," Katara said, her tone lacking confidence.

Sokka raised an eyebrow, "Wow, I don't even _need_ to be Toph to know that that's a lie."

Katara groaned, "Sokka, I just want to be alone in my thoughts right now."

"And see my little sister brood like the old Zuko who used to chase us around? I'll take that risk in bothering you right now."

Katara chuckled, "Come on, Sokka, Zuko didn't really brood _that_ much."

"Well, maybe it was when I hung out with him. And see? Ya chuckled! That's a good sign!" Sokka said as he wrapped an arm around his sister.

" _Sokka._.." Katara whined.

"Come on, little sis, tell me what's wrong," Sokka urged as he gave her a one-arm squeeze.

Katara was silent for a moment until she said, "...Do you...do you think everything we've done for the world...all amounted to nothing for us?"

"Whoa. Where did this come from?" Sokka asked her with slightly wide eyes.

She sighed, "It's just...have we really learned anything from all of this?"

"Uh...we learned that wars are bad?"

"Well, yes, but...have we learned anything _spiritually_?" Katara asked.

Sokka put his hand on his chin, "Hmm...well, for one thing, you've been hanging around with Aang too much."

"Yeah...I know..." Katara said as she lowered her gaze to her lap.

Sokka looked at his sister in concern, "Hey...you're really thinking about this, aren't you?"

Katara hummed in reply.

Sokka frowned, trying to think of something to cheer her up. "Well...I learn women are capable of anything."

Katara turned her head to him with a smirk, "Well, there's that."

"Heh, yeah..." Sokka rubbed the back of his head, "Also, I've...learned to be a man."

Katara giggled, "Yeah, you kind of have."

"Kind of? Come on, I'm a full-blown _man_ now," Sokka puffed his chest out.

"Then what does that make me?"

"...My little sister."

" _Sokka_."

"Hey, you'll still be my little sister whether you like it or not. I don't view you as a woman, per say. Other _men_ on the other hand, _do_ view you as a woman. And they, especially Aang over there, better not disrespect my little sister if they know what's coming to them."

"Sokka..." she looked like she was about to say something else, but she said, "I can handle myself."

A little confused by the hesitation, Sokka decided to go back to the main topic, "Do you...feel like you haven't learned anything?"

...Katara said, "I don't know. I feel like...I haven't really."

"Why is that?"

"...I..." Katara faltered.

Sokka frowned, not used to having the optimistic sister that he knows to be so downtrodden. He decided to say, "Well you know what? I think you're wrong."

Katara looked at Sokka with a puzzled look, "What?"

"I mean, you're wrong about feeling like you haven't learned anything spiritually. You learned to reach out to people when they need it, and it worked. Like Zuko! It took time, but he turned around eventually!"

"...Yeah." Katara said with a smile.

" _And_ , you learned to be a bad-ass water-bender throughout your journey!"

Katara chuckled, "Why thank you, Sokka."

"Hey, I'm serious! And also, you found someone you like and cherish," he motions his head to Aang, "Like me and Suki!" he leaned in a whispered, "Now all we got to do is let our earth-bending friend not be the third wheel."

Katara smiled, "You know what? You're right Sokka. I have learned some things on my journey. Thank you...I don't know what I do without you."

Sokka grinned, "Hey, that's what big brothers are for! No worries. Whenever you feel like you need someone to talk to, you come to me!" he gave her another one-arm hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Love ya, sis."

Katara chuckled, "Thanks, Sokka."

"No prob! I'll be here for ya. In the meantime, I'm gonna relax on the saddle for a bit. Just know that I'll always give you words of advice, alright?"

Katara rolled her eyes, "Sure thing, bro."

Patting her on the shoulder, he got up and made his way to Suki. Katara watched him go, but her gaze soon turned to Aang, who was on Appa's head driving the flying bison.

She turned her head back at the sea.

...She has Aang...

...She frowned.

" _Aang...you really shouldn't be thinking about these kinds of things right now."_

" _B-But why? I mean, couples tend to have feelings like that, right?"_

" _Yes, but...Aang...you're thirteen. I'm fifteen. It's just...it's not right."_

" _What do you mean? Sokka and Suki are doing...things, why can't we?"_

" _It's just...you're too young, Aang."_

" _But I'm a teenager now! I'm basically a young adult!"_

" _Yes, but...Aang, I just don't feel right doing that."_

" _...But...I love you, Katara."_

" _...Aang..."_

" _I mean...we're together now, right? I...I want...I want us to go to the next step in our relationship."_

" _Aang, this isn't a good time to talk about this. We need to leave tomorrow to the Fire Nation to help Zuko."_

" _Well, when is it a good time!?"_

" _..."_

" _Katara, I...I really love you. I, I just...I mean, don't you love_ me _?"_

" _Aang, of course I do! I just...I just..."_

" _Just what?"_

" _...I just don't think this is a good time to talk about it, Aang. We need to rest and go tomorrow. We'll...we'll talk about this some other time."_

" _...When will that be?"_

" _After we help Zuko catch his father and Azula."_

" _...Okay...I'm...I'm sorry, Katara. You're right. I'll...I'll wait."_

" _...Aang...I know you're growing up fast, but...there's a time where you need to know when you're ready for your first time or when you're not. Me, I'm just...not ready. And I don't think you're ready as well, Aang."_

" _...Okay...but I do love you, Katara. And...I want to let you know that I really_ do _love you...but at the same time, I want to make you feel comfortable. So...I won't rush these things."_

" _...Thank you, Aang."_

Katara frowned deeply.

...What is she doing?

Is she really...?

...She loves Aang. She _really_ does.

...But...to go that far...

...Katara kept looking out at the sea.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 2**

* * *

 **Yeeeeep...there's that. XP**

 **But yeah! What do you think of this chapter? Does it now intrigue you? :D**

 **Next chapter will be when Azula, Ozai, and the others will land on the island! And soon some other stuff happens! Hoorah! ;D**

 **Remember, if you like this story, leave a review, fave, and follow if you want! Also, spot those SH character references! XD**

 **Thank you all for reading and until next time; keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	4. 3: Welcoming

**[EDIT: 2/23/2019]**

* * *

The island of Sairento Hiruzu.

The airship descended through the thick cloudy skies, and there in front of everyone's view is where all of them will be staying for now. They see land ahead, along with three mountainous hills and a small lake in the center of it, which were all off in the distance, the whole island littered around with green trees. Below them, there was a yellow sand beach that seemed to stretch for miles, probably around the whole island. A little way from the left side of the beach was the harbor and several landing pads, where the ships and airships would dock and unload people. The vessel soon maneuvered its way to the left, making its way to the landing pads as it descended even further.

"We have officially arrived, everyone," Vucen announced, shifting gears as he prepared to land the airship.

"Finally. I'm tired of flying for practically three days straight," Meira remarked with a mutter.

Edi grunted in agreement, while Jemusu and Anjera were silent. Ozai and Azula were also silent, but Azula's eyes narrowed at the windshield window.

"It looks...a little foggy," Azula stated.

Outside, there was a small fog that made itself known on the beaches as it seeps through the trees and into the forest. It carried an almost odd calm to it...

"We have a good amount of rain here," Vucen commented to Azula, "and since it is Spring and we're on an island away from the mainland, it gets a little cool here as well, so there are slight temperature drops and highs at this time of the season," Vucen smiled, "I like to believe it has a certain ambiance that adds to this majestic island."

"Ambiance? What kind?" Azula asked with a raised brow.

"Well...it just feels...calming," Vucen said with a shrug as he still kept his smile.

"Hmm..." Azula hummed, not saying anything else to that.

Walteru, who was standing next to the row of seats where the prisoners are sitting, came up to Azula's side and spoke up, "It really is a beautiful island. Even if you and your father are hiding from your brother, we do hope you'll all enjoy your stay here at our town of Silent Hills for now."

Azula turned her head to look at Walteru, eyeing him cautiously. Ever since he introduced himself, he seems to be trying to get closer to the Fire Nation princess as best as he can. That in itself made Azula feel a little on-guard. Of course, she can take care of herself, she knows how to lightning-bend, and even though Walteru did an impressive job with his fire-bending, she considers herself more the superior fire-bender...next to her father...

She turned her head to glance at her father, who was cold-faced as usual. Upon thinking of who the real superior fire-bender once was, she actually felt...ashamed for thinking that. Looking down at the floor, she frowned. Honestly, if she ever used empathy on anyone, she would use it on her father. In fact, she pities him...but she wouldn't let him know that. He told her that feeling pity for others will weight her down, that she should focus on her inner fire, where her true emotions lie.

Still, she really does feel for her father. If she ever lost her fire-bending...she shuddered to even think about it. It certainly must be a huge blow to her father who stands tall and proud of it. Fire-bending was a part of one's soul, and if they took that away...then what else would there be to live for?

It was then her father's voice interrupted her thoughts, "We will...take our time here, thank you," he said to Walteru as he turned his gaze on him for a brief moment.

Walteru respectively bowed to him. "You are most welcome. And thank you."

Edi scoffed, "Whatever. I just want some _real_ food."

"Is that all you ever think about?" the woman named Meira asked in irritation as she turned her head to him from her seat.

"Hey, I'm hungry!" Edi retorted back, "The food they stole at those small villages back at our stops weren't filling enough!

Meira rolled her eyes at him and scoffed as she turned her head back forward, "Sheep-pig."

"Hey, say that to my face!" Edi exclaimed in anger.

"Guys, we don't need this right now..." Jemusu said, trying to ease the tension between them, but he was ignored.

"I would, but you're too repulsively fat to be looked upon," muttered Meira.

"I heard that! You know, just cause I'm not chiseled or handsome or anything like that, doesn't mean you can make insults at me!" Edi retorted.

"Oh, so you _can_ hear me? Sorry, I thought you had fat in your ears as well," Meira mocked.

Edi was fuming, "Damn, what have I done to you, ya bitch?"

"You two _quiet_ _down_ ," Maikera warned them from the other side of the row of seats with his arms crossed, "We're about to land. Besides, I don't think our _king_ here would appreciate all the noise."

Ozai turned his head to Maikera with an affirmed nod, "Yes, thank you. It was starting to get rather _annoying_."

Maikera nodded as well, while Edi's and Meira's eyes widened in realization when remembering who else was in the airship. They both kept their mouths shut altogether.

Everyone was silent at that point...

"...Aaand...we've landed!" Vucen said with a slight buoyancy as the airship landed.

Maikera unfolded his arms and went over to the back cargo door and used a lever to lower the door to open it.

"Alright everyone, follow Walteru. We're going to head into town on foot," Vucen told the escapees. He smiled at Azula and Ozai, "Royalty first."

"Thank you," Ozai said as he stood up from his seat along with Azula. They walked around the row of seats, which the other escapees got up from their seats and began to follow them as well, with Jemusu, Edi, Meira, and Anjera respectively following the pair.

"Alright then, let us make our way to our home," Walteru advised with a smile to everyone. With that, he turned around to the exit and led them out of the airship, with Maikera and Vucen following close behind.

As soon as they exited out of the airship, they made their way over to the ramp and onto land. The fog, however, didn't let up. Azula looked at her surroundings, seeing that they were now on the beach.

 _'Hmm...'_ she mused as she looked up at the sky as she walked.

There were no birds flying.

She looked at the surface of the sandy beaches to see if there was any sea crustacean wildlife around, but the fog almost obstructs that.

It was then she realized...

 _'...It's too quiet here.'_

"The beaches are certainly nice during the summer," Walteru commented, interrupting her train of thought to glance at Walteru. The man glanced back at Azula with that _same_ smile, "Right now though, the foggy season has started. It may give off a dreary feel to it, but like my brother said, it carries off a calming and relaxing presence onto the island."

"That it does, Walteru," Vucen said as he came up to his younger brother, "Now, which way are we taking, little brother? You do happen to know the way back, do you?"

"Oh yes, of course," Walteru nodded, "we go through one of the hiking trails into the town. I know which one too! I memorized it before we went off."

Ozai raised a brow, "You make it sound like you all haven't left the island for some time."

"Well..." Vucen was silent for a moment as he stopped, "We...haven't. This is the first time my brother and I left the island to go to the mainland. I think this is Maikera's first time as well."

"It is," Maikera grunted.

Ozai looked at Vucen oddly, "Really?"

"Oh yes, indeed. We...well, we keep up with certain events from Mother. She's the only one that knows what's going on at the Nation," Walteru tells them.

Ozai, Azula, and the other escapees looked at them in confusion.

"Wait a minute..." Azula spoke up, "Are you telling me all of you on this island besides your...mother, hasn't been to the Fire Nation mainland? Not even the Earth Kingdom? Water Tribes even?"

Walteru smiled slightly, "I am afraid we haven't, your majesty. But Mother hasn't really been-"

"Walteru, I think you should let your mother tell them how she knows of recent events," Maikera said firmly.

"Um, yes, Walteru, I, uh...think Mother is best suited to tell them that, along with telling them why they're here," Vucen also said.

The younger man blinked as his eyes widened in realization, "Oh, right. Of course."

Jemusu looked even more confused. "Why we're here on the island?"

"Yes," Vucen nodded, "but not now though. When we meet her, she will tell you. Now, Walteru, if you can light the way?"

"Certainly," and with that Walteru ignited a flame with his hand.

"I might need to light the way as well," Vucen said as he ignites his flame into his hand.

"I might as well help," Maikera summoned fire from his fingers.

"Alright then, follow me and don't get separated," Walteru advised them.

As soon as the three men were walking ahead, the escapees followed them. Jemusu and Edi were next to each other, along with Meira and Anjera, and Ozai and Azula, who were first and foremost in front of the other four escapees. However, some of them were all expressing concerns...

Jemusu mumbled to Edi, "That's odd. I wonder what they have in store for us?"

"Who knows? As long as they have food here, then I'm okay with it."

"Yeah...I am a little hungry." Jemusu remarked as his stomach gurgled.

Meanwhile, with Meira and Anjera, the older woman glanced at the younger girl next to her. Meira sees that Anjera looked to be quite nervous, so she decided to quietly say to her, "You alright?"

Anjera, startled, glanced at the woman next to her, which she stuttered, "W-What?"

"Just wondering if you're alright," Meira asked with a shrug.

"Oh..." Anjera murmured, "Yeah, I, um...there's just a lot of... _people_ around here."

Meira raised an eyebrow, "Does that bother you?"

...Anjera stayed silent as she turned her attention forward to the group. "...A little."

Meira stared at her a bit as they walked and then looked forward at their group as well. "...What to know what I was in prison for?"

Taking another glance at Meira, Anjera looked at her in curiosity. "...What?"

"...Simply put, some..." she looked down as she walked, thinking of a better term, "...well-paid _client_ decided he want to be a little rough with me...a little _too_ rough." she frowned, "The sick _bastard_ ," he mumbled in disdain.

Anjera kept quiet, listening intently to what she has to say.

"You probably know what I do from the way I look, right?" Meira asked the younger woman.

Not saying anything as she looked away a bit, Anjera still remained silent. Meira thinks the girl already knows by the uncomfortable silence they're having.

"...Either way, the little slime-ball wanted to live out his _fetish_ and beat me...I wasn't going to let that happen, so...as he was _choking_ me above the kitchen counter...I grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the eye..." Meira looked forward as she recalled that memory, "He screamed...I just harmed a client who had a _lot_ of money. I couldn't explain it to my owner at the brothel...and quite frankly, I didn't care...so I kept stabbing him and stabbing him."

Anjera glanced slightly at the older woman.

"The client was a Fire Nation noble's son...it actually worked out, because if I didn't kill him, then I wouldn't be able to get arrested. Meaning I never had to go back to that brothel...and face my pimp. They asked me where my operation was located...funny thing is, I never told them. I didn't want another beating, this time from my pimp if I ever went back there. So...they lock me up in prison...only because I murdered a noble's son..."

Looking at her, Anjera felt inclined to ask, "How many years did you get?"

"...Twenty."

The younger woman hummed as the silence stretched for a bit when looking forward once more.

"...I guess at that moment, I was free from that lifestyle...for now," Meira solemnly said.

"...Then...why did you escaped with the rest of us?" Anjera asked her.

"...I guess...I wanted a change. Maybe I could escape the Fire Nation and go to the Earth Kingdom to start a new life there...who knows? I just...wanted to be free."

"...I think you made the right decision," Anjera muttered.

Meira turned to her, her expression neutral...until she said, "Thanks..." she looked forward once more as they were walking...she shifted her gaze to Anjera, "What were you in for?"

"...I...rather not say," Anjera said to her.

Meira kept her gaze on her for a bit and shrugged, "Okay then...just know that I won't judge you for it."

Anjera said nothing as they kept walking, unknown to them that a male was listening in on their conversation.

Jemusu frowned, feeling pity for the two women as he kept on walking. He wondered what happened to Anjera that made her get into prison in the first place. She was still just a teenager, her whole life was ahead of her...

"Hey, you alright?" Edi broke out of his thoughts.

"Oh, um...yeah," Jemusu said, shaking his head.

"You know, you do that a lot, spacing out," Edi commented.

"Uh...sorry. I guess it's just a habit of mine," Jemusu said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of her head.

Edi shrugged, "Hey, I'm not judging you. You're a cool guy so far...you haven't really judged me either," he said with a small smile back at him.

Jemusu smiled back, "Just know that your weight doesn't define who you are, it's your character."

Edi nodded with the same smile on his face, "I'll keep that in mind, Jemusu."

Azula and Ozai, meanwhile, walked in silence...

...until Azula murmurs to Ozai, "Father, this all seems very suspicious."

"If you want to say you're skeptical about this whole thing, then go ahead and say it, Azula," Ozai murmured back which made Azula's eyes widened.

 _'Damn...well, I might as well fess up,'_ "Alright Father, I confess. This...all seems too good to be true," she chose her next words carefully, "How do you know these people will grant you your fire-bending back?"

"My fool of a brother once said an old saying, 'Desperate affairs make for desperate measures'." Ozai narrowed his eyes at the thought of his older brother, "...I suppose he was right on that aspect."

Azula raised a brow at what her father was saying. "Do you happen to know how you'll get your bending back?"

"Admittedly, no. But Iroh also did say, 'Desperate people can make themselves believe in anything'." Ozai humphed, "No matter how much of a failure my older brother is, he seemed precise on his sayings."

"But...what if what they're offering won't work?" Azula asked the important question.

Ozai turned his gaze on Azula, "Then we will make due to what we have. Perhaps we can convince these fire-benders to join our side, create an uprising even. Although, if what they offer doesn't work, it will be...a waste to say at the least." he turned his head forward, "But at least we are out of your brother's strict surveillance."

Azula looked at her father for a moment before looking back at the path Walteru was leading them. She glanced around her surroundings once more as she tries to see through the fog. They were away from the beach and are walking on a path that was said to be a hiking trail that goes through the forest. It was still morning, and a small amount of light is shone through the cloudy skies. The eerie fog enveloped the trees and covered the path they were walking on, the mist soon dematerializing out of existence.

Everything was...really quiet.

It was then Azula realized something else...

...No animals were scurrying around. No birds were chirping. Not even insects were buzzing around.

There was _no_ animal life...

It was all... _silent_.

Azula frowned. She's starting to grow mildly cautious. She has to admit to herself, this struck her as a little creepy in its own way. What kind of island doesn't have sounds of wildlife...and are people really here on this island? She recalled from her father and Vucen saying that this land was a sacred place...

She decided to ask Walteru, "What kind of town is...Silent Hills?"

Walteru glanced behind him and said "Oh, well, Silent Hills used to be, and we like to think it still is, a resort town. It was the very first one of its kind in the Fire Nation."

The princess raised an eyebrow on that, "Is that so?"

"Indeed it is, your majesty," Vucen answered for her, "Silent Hills and this island used to be a grand resort full of attractions and amusement," he glanced around his environment as his expression softened a bit, "...I bet the people enjoyed it here during its heyday."

Curious, Azula asked, "What happened to this island?"

Vucen's and Walteru's walk slowed down a bit. The latter answered, "It became _too_ popular..."

Azula can guess what the slight undertone meant. But it was then Vucen muttered, "They were disrespecting the land too much..."

Interested by that statement, she asked Vucen, "Like, desecrating it?"

"Hmm," Vucen nodded, his eyes concentrating on the path.

"But we're changing that," Walteru said as he glanced at Azula with a slight smile, "We plan to make Silent Hills and this island be back to its former glory."

"Hm," The girl then directs her attention to Maikera, "So what's your story?"

Maikera grunted, "I'm basically with the cause too," was all he said.

Azula stared at him for a second until she accepted that answer with a hum. However, it didn't give her any answers about the island's vacant wildlife. Surely her father must've noticed all of this as well...

She took one last look at her father, who was silent during her conversations. He looked determined, dead-set on his goal, to get his fire-bending back by unknown means, no matter the cost.

 _'...I only hope Father will get what he wants.'_

For now, she decided to keep the questions to a minimum. She doesn't want anyone to think that she was afraid. Of course not. She just has a weird feeling about this whole island is all. She doesn't _do_ fear. She's the daughter of Ozai, as well as the _true_ Fire Lord...however, she'll be keeping her guard up when things don't look as they seem.

She briefly remembered when she almost went insane...that was a trip down memory lane she doesn't want to relive. That's when Zuko was helping her at that time...

She scowled. _'Tch, I didn't need his help. He's a traitor and a fool...he's no brother of mine._

Until then, they kept walking until they reached the town...

The town of Silent Hills.

* * *

They see it. The town.

The group ventured through the fog for several more minutes. As they walked, they see that there were fewer trees out here now. In the short distance away from them, they now see shapes appearing. Getting ever close to the town, they see that there was a grand entrance that welcomes the people inside. It was like a traditional gate entrance seen in the Fire Nation Temples, the large torii gate welcoming the people into the town, but also indicating that they are reaching a place of importance.

There was a sign above the gate, and upon closer inspection, it reads:

 _(Welcome to Silent Hills_ )

 _Where memories are made!_

"Well, here we are!" Vucen said with a slight smile to the group.

"Man, this fog hasn't let up," Edi complained as his squinted eyes tried to see through the mist.

Jemusu looked around the area, "Yeah...the fog must be strong during this time of the season, huh?"

"Oh yes, it certainly is," Vucen nodded back to Jemusu.

Meira sighed, "I just like to have a nap right now."

Azula actually couldn't agree more. She was tired of traveling through airship and resting on the hard metal floor. She wanted to get into a nice comfy bed, let it be average or queen-size.

"Ah, there's mother and Kuraudia," Walteru said as they entered and passed the gate.

Everyone's attention was on two figures that seem to make themselves known as they were walking up to them. As soon as they are out of the fog, there was one older woman and a younger woman.

The younger woman, who they all think is Kuraudia, is an attractive woman who looks to be in her mid-twenties, with long black hair which stopped at her upper back. She was wearing a black long-sleeved outfit along with a long flowing black skirt. But the most interesting thing about this woman was that she was barefoot.

The older woman, however, was in dark red robes and has a white veil over her raven colored shoulder-length haired head. She looked to be close to fifty, as her face was showing her age.

Ozai and Azula remained quiet as the two women approached them. The rest of the escapees looked on, while the three men who brought them here stood straight and bowed before the older woman.

"Good afternoon, mother," Vucen and Walteru both said.

The older woman, who was obviously the two younger men's mother, nodded, "You boys and Maikera did well on bringing the famed Fire Lord _and_ Phoenix King to Silent Hills...as well as his daughter."

"Thank you, mother," Vucen said in a tone that is meant to give out respect.

"We aim to please our mother, the High Priestess," Walteru said that gave out the same tone.

Azula, bewildered by what she's experiencing, looked at this with a raised eyebrow. Even Ozai had to blink at it.

"We also brought more escapees, Mother Daria," Maikera said as he motioned them, "They came with Fire Lord Ozai."

"Hmm. Yes, I see," the older woman, who apparently was named Daria, said with another nod. She smiled at everyone, "Well then, in that case, everyone, welcome to our town of Silent Hills. We hope you'll enjoy your stay here."

Azula frowned in suspicion, furrowing her brows at Daria.

Ozai, on the other hand, said to her, "As much as I would like to relax, we are still in danger. My fool son will probably catch up to us sooner or later, and chances are we may have been spotted. I think we need some sort of tactic just in case his soldiers catch up to us."

Daria's smile then turned...knowing. Almost as if she predicted that he would say that. "Ah, yes...actually, I don't think you need to worry too much about your son's armies. This island has a thing for leading others... _astray_."

Ozai raised a brow, "Meaning...?"

"It has a way to not let people... _interfere_ with our plans."

"...Interesting. You seem to have faith in this island of yours." Ozai says.

"Oh, believe me, my lord, we have more _faith_ than you know..." Daria said with a somewhat unsettling smile.

Azula took note of it.

Something wasn't right...the princess would make those smiles herself when she was planning something. Like a counterattack or...a scheme.

Daria continued as she directed her sons, "Vucen, Walteru, meet us back at the town hall. We will be there in a little bit."

Vucen and Walteru bowed, both saying in unison, "Yes, mother."

With that, they walked past the two women, Walter walking past his mother, and Vucen walking past Kuraudia. When passing the younger woman though, Vucen gave her a passing glance, which he expressed a warm smile to her, and briefly touched her hand, which the woman gave him a tender smile back. The two men then walked off into the mist to go to their destination.

Azula watched Vucen's and Kuraudia's interaction with interest. _'Hmm...they must be in love.'_

Daria, also seeing her oldest son's exchange with Kuraudia, said nothing. She addressed Maikera, "Now, Maikera, why don't you show our visitors to the hotel so they can properly rest?"

Maikera nodded, "Certainly, Mother Daria."

"Hotel?" Jemusu asked surprised.

"A hotel? Don't we, uh...have to pay to stay?" asked Edi.

Daria chuckled, "You don't have to. It's free."

"Free?" Meira said, pleasantly surprised. She smirked, "Well now, that's not a bad deal."

"Heh, yeah," Edi said with a satisfied grin, "I love to sleep in a nice cozy room. I'm sure anything you got here will be paradise compared to the prison."

Daria smiled in a strange way, "Yes...it will be indeed _paradise_."

Azula blinked as she sensed a somewhat ominous overtone in her words. Her father seemed to notice too, as he looked at her suspiciously.

"Maikera, if you will show our guests to the Lakeview Hotel," Daria told the older man.

Maikera nodded and turn to everyone saying, "It will take a while to get there so we'll walk there on foot."

"We're _still_ walking?" Edi asked out loud in disbelief, "Whatever happened to transportation?"

"Afraid to shed some pounds?" Meira said with a droll.

Edi turned to her with a glare, not coming up with a retort.

"It's not very far," Maikera stated, "You'll all have some rest once we get there."

Edi grumbled while Meira rolled her eyes and Anjera just said nothing. Jemusu just smiled and said, "That's fine with me. I'm sure it'll be better than our rooms back at the prison."

Maikera hummed in affirmation, "Alright then. Follow me," he said as he leads them to a street. All six of them followed the older man, as they go further down the road into the town.

Azula was next to Ozai as she kept walking...

"...Father...you do know something's not right here, do you?" Azula mumbled to him.

Ozai turned his gaze at his daughter, "Are you afraid, Azula?"

Azula's eyes widened at the outlandish notion. "What? No Father, of course not."

"Then what are you doubting?" he firmly asked her.

The princess looked at him in surprise.

Ozai then mumbled back to her, "I'll admit, this Daria character acts a little off. But as of right now, this is a blessing from Agni himself, so we will try to win their favor," he paused for a second, "And perhaps there's more to this island then we think. There could be benevolent spirits here that guard this place...perhaps that's who they worship. Either way, do _not_ show any sign of weakness, Azula."

"...Yes, Father. Forgive me," Azula said, her head lowered down in shame as she walked.

"You are forgiven," Ozai plainly states, "Until then, we should rest for the day at this hotel."

Azula nodded...however, she still can't get the feeling that something larger is happening here...

* * *

Daria looked on at the group fading into the mist, along with Kuraudia.

It was then Kuraudia turned her head to the older woman, "Mother Daria, we have the Fire Lord at last...but what about his daughter? Did God say anything to you about her coming to the island?"

"Hmm...not particularly..." It was then Daria smiled almost in a disturbing way, "Perhaps God is keeping a secret from us...we shall know soon enough tomorrow either way...when more will come," she turned to Kuraudia, " _Never_ doubt God, my child."

"That I won't, Mother Daria," Kuraudia nodded. She turned to the mist that the group entered in, "Until then, waiting is all we can do."

"Yes...and perhaps they'll come sooner than we think," Daria turned to the entrance of the town as she smiled in an evil fashion, "Soon...very _soon_...thirteen people is all that it takes for God to be pleased in one day...and when that day comes, God just has to choose _which one_."

* * *

 **End of Chapter 3**

* * *

 **Ooooo...pretty spooky, huh? X)**

 **But yeah! What do you all think? I hope it catches your interest still! The next chapter will be focused on the Gaang! And you know, I'm thinking the chapter count for this story will be...I'm thinking maybe 40? Cause really, by this point, my word count on each chapter is pretty short compared to my other stories, and I hope that's okay. This is just only to not exhaust myself from writing so much, and I want to update a lot quicker than I usually do. I hope you all understand. :(**

 **But other than that, I hope you're all enjoying this story so far! :D**

 **As for me, I'm doing pretty good! Still doing online classes in my community college until I go to the bigger online campus of my dreams! Keep wishing(or praying, either one) me luck on this journey everyone! :)**

 **So again, what did you all think of this chapter? If you like to leave a review, go ahead! Maybe leave a fave and a follow! Maybe all three! I love them all! ;)**

 **Thank you all for reading, and until then, keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	5. 4: Rest

**[EDIT: 11/6/2019]**

* * *

About ten minutes later, Maikera and Ozai's group were still walking in the foggy town. They were walking on a street, where Maikera, who was lighting the way with the flame in his hand, was leading them to the hotel while the group followed. Ozai, Azula, and the four escapees were silent as they looked around their surroundings at some of the buildings, the structures close to each other as they have small alleyways. The town was also surrounded by a wall circumference barrier that seemed to keep the animals away from town...which is odd since they haven't heard any wildlife when they got here.

As Ozai's group glanced at these buildings, they can see a good amount of homes, shops, and restaurants, all lined up on each side of the street. The architecture resembled an old-world Fire Nation motif, with curved roof-edges, red shingles, and pointed rooftops. The foundation of the buildings was actually built with a mixture of stone and wood, instead of the metal structures of modern Fire Nation towns and cities. They all look very old, but they look like they were still intact...which is also strange. The people here must take good care of the town, as none of the structures looked dilapidated or worn from weather conditions. They were still standing, never refusing to topple. Still, it all amounted to one noticeable thing about these buildings...

There were no customers or residents inside any of them.

The group, minus Maikera, all find this increasingly disturbing. The silence wasn't making it any better as well.

"Man, what happened to this place? Nobody is here," Edi wondered out loud.

"Yeah, it's...kind of weird," Jemusu added.

Maikera answered, "As Walteru said, it got too popular. Many shady business deals were made here, along with murders happening around every corner."

"Hmm...what kind of business deals?" Meira asked in curiosity.

"Just certain illegal drug deal activity, putting out hits on people, prostitution, the works, " Maikera answered.

Meira's eyes widened at that last one, while Anjera glanced at her to see her reaction. Jemusu winced at the last one as well, thinking about Meira and her past occupation.

"Well...this place looked like it would've been a really nice town at one point," Jemusu gave out his thoughts.

Maikera nodded as he hummed, "That it would."

Azula listening to the conversations, decided to ask a question, "How old is this town?"

Glancing at the princess, Maikera answered, "As of tomorrow, about one-hundred sixty-five years old."

"As of tomorrow?" Ozai spoke up in question.

"Yes, Your Highness. Tomorrow is the day the town has been founded by the people who built it on this island. It will be...the town's birthday, per say," Maikera said.

"One-hundred and sixty-five years old? Man, how come we haven't heard anything about this?" Edi asked intrigued.

"Fire Nation historians wish to... _forget_ this town ever existed," Maikera said with distaste.

Ozai and Azula looked at him in interest, waiting for him to continue.

"...As Walteru said, we wish to change that," Maikera muttered solemnly.

The princess was curious by that statement, but she decided not to ask any further questions on the matter. The less she asked about these things, the less obvious she'll make herself look out to be that she has suspicions about this whole rescue.

She was just skeptic...she _wasn't_ afraid...uncomfortable with all of this, maybe, but she wasn't afraid.

Ozai, however, decided to ask one thing, "You said there were six of you on this island. We've only met five of you..." he said, letting Maikera finish the rest of the sentence.

Maikera's face suddenly turned into a hateful scowl. Silent for a moment, he muttered, "Yes...there is another woman here... _she_ is trying to _redeem_ herself."

Ozai raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

The flame that was in the older man's hand rose, indicating that he was feeling some sort of strong emotion inside...

It could mean anything. But it was then when he spoke, it was clear.

"By ever _existing..._ " Maikera said in a cold tone.

Azula blinked at the statement, while Ozai only hummed in understanding, "I know the feeling..."

Glancing at her father, the princess suddenly felt...pity for Zuko.

But it was only brief. She looked ahead at the path they were taking. _'No. Zuko chose his path. You shouldn't feel sorry for that idiot. If he wants to defy father, then fine. So be it.'_

And with that, everyone quietly trekked their way to the hotel.

* * *

The hotel was pretty grand looking, to say the least.

Four stories tall and wide with many rooms, it was made with the same materials as the other buildings, except this time it has metal touches to the hotel's exterior. In front of the hotel, there was an intricate stone plaque with gold metal lettering that says ' _Lakeview Hotel'_ on it, welcoming visitors to the establishment. Lastly, as its name implies, the hotel was situated near the central lake of the whole island, which the body of water was gated around its perimeter, letting the tourists look out at the majestic view of the island's lake.

The group had been walking for what felt like twenty minutes. From what they observed, Silent Hills seemed to be a very nice-sized town. Some would even say it's more like a city, as they maneuvered through the streets and alleyways to pass more buildings, such as the jail and the police station. As soon as they successfully found the hotel, some have made their relief and exhaustion known.

"Ugh! Finally. I'm getting really tired of walking," griped Edi.

Meira humphed, "I would make a crack at that, but I'm gonna have to agree. This town is bigger than I thought."

Edi scowled at Meira, "Gee, _thanks_ on both accounts."

Azula quietly agrees with Edi on their trek over here. She doesn't want to admit it, but she wished she had some form of transportation to at least get her and her father here to their destination. Not only that, but she had to agree with Meira as well. This resort town was perhaps even larger than the town on Ember Island. In fact, this island seemed a lot bigger than Ember Island. How come she hasn't heard about this place before? Was this whole island really a stain to the Fire Nation and the history scrolls?

"Well, here we are," Maikera said, stopping in front of them and turning to face them. "Sorry for the long walk, everyone. All of you can rest now."

"I got to say, this hotel looks really nice," complimented Jemusu, "Is, um...anyone working there?"

"Sadly, no," Maikera answered, "But you can find some room-keys at the reception desk. Choose which one you would like to stay and enjoy yourselves for now. I'll be going back to Mother Daria and the rest."

Azula can't help but ask the question, "Why do you all call her Mother Daria? I heard she was a high priestess?"

Ozai glanced at his daughter for a moment and back at Maikera. He was also curious to know what the woman's position was.

Maikera was silent for a second until he said, "She has...a gift that Agni granted onto her."

"A gift?" Ozai wondered, arching an eyebrow, "Would it happen to be her knowing what goes on beyond this island?"

"...In a way," Maikera answered cryptically, "I'm sorry, but I cannot answer a lot of questions at this moment. As of now, I must head back to Mother Daria, her sons, and my daughter. We will start a plan tomorrow since it is close to the evening."

Maikera passed the group as he made his way back to Daria and the others.

"Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm ready to get some actual sleep!" Jemusu said with a smile.

Edi turned to Jemusu with a nod and a smile. "I agree. I also can't wait to eat some actual food!"

Meira scoffed, "Obviously."

Edi frowned at the remark and turned to Meira with a scowl, "What is with you? So I like to eat, okay?! It doesn't make me a disgusting sheep-pig or anything! I have some manners, unlike you!"

"I find that hard to believe." Meira droned.

"Okay, that's enough already!" Jemusu said in a stern tone to Meira.

Meanwhile, Ozai told Azula, "Come, Azula. Let's go inside the hotel. I rather not listen to criminals arguing with each other." he then walked over tho the front entrance of the hotel.

Azula hummed as he looked at the arguing group, "Although it would be entertaining, I am tired...coming, Father."

And she followed her father to the Lakeview Hotel.

* * *

"Why are you always making fun of Edi? What has he ever done to you?" Jemusu asked Meira.

"Yeah! Why are you so harsh on me, lady?" Edi said in frustration.

Meira glared at both Jemusu and Edi...until she pursed her lips, sighed, and muttered, "Okay...you're both right. I haven't really been bearable lately."

"That's apparent," Edi muttered.

"Hey, I'm trying to apologize, you hip-" Meira grimaced and sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Sorry, sorry..." she looked at Edi before collecting herself, "Look, you just...remind me of someone, okay?"

"Like who?" Edi asked, now curious.

Anjera looked at Meira in surprise. She might have an idea on who that someone could be.

"Just...someone that I used to know," Meira answered flippantly.

"A client?" Jemusu said with a frown.

Meira turned to Jemusu with wide shocked eyes, while Anjera looked at him with equal shock.

"A client? What do you mean by that?" Edi asked in curiosity.

Meira then scowled at Jemusu, "You overheard us? You know, that was none of your business!"

Jemusu looked at the ground in slight shame. "I know...but it is about a client, right?"

"Wait, I'm kind of confused," Edi interrupted, "What are you all talking about?"

"Nothing, okay!" Meira exclaimed at Edi.

"Is he," Anjera hesitated, but she pushed through, "the one that made you go to prison?"

Meira turned to Anjera with the same shock on her face.

Meanwhile, Edi was connecting the dots. "Wait...are you like...a prosti-"

"Don't call me that! I'm not that _anymore_ , you hear me!?" Meira raised her voice in a stern way at Edi.

Edi's eyes widened in surprise.

"And since you all want to know so much, then yes, it was that _client_ that made me go to prison..." she looked down, "...I didn't kill him because he wanted to have sex with me or anything...it's just that he was almost trying to kill _me._..for his own _freaking_ sick pleasure," she glanced up at Edi with a sad look on her face, "I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put out all my anger at you. I...I hope you're nothing like my last client."

All four stood there in silence. Edi looked at her and his expression changed into one of sorrowful pity.

"...I'm going inside," Meira said as she walked past the group and up into the hotel.

Now all three of them stood there, with Jemusu and Anjera having a look of empathy on their faces as they watched Meira go inside. Edi looked back at her retreating figure and frowned, "Man...and I called her a 'bitch'."

"You didn't know, Edi," Jemusu reassured him as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't say anything about it because...well, you know."

Edi nodded, still frowning, "Yeah..."

Anjera nervously glanced at the two men for a moment, looked down and mumbled, "I'm...going to see if Meira needs any company," with that, she walked over to the hotel's entrance as well.

That leaves Jemusu and Edi the only ones left that stood out in the middle of the town.

"...You know...it still doesn't justify her attitude towards me...but...I guess I should probably apologize as well, just because I insulted her a while back...and just because it seems like the right thing to do," Edi muttered.

Jemusu nodded with a hum.

Edi turned his head to Jemusu and said with a slight smile, "Thanks for sticking up for me though, man."

Jemusu smiled back, "Hey, anytime."

After that moment, they started to walk over to the entrance to the hotel.

As soon as they entered the lodging establishment, everything was quiet in the foggy town...

...Everything was quiet.

…Too quiet.

...But for how long?

* * *

Azula was in front of her hotel room door with the key that she selected in her hand. Her room was on the top fourth floor where all the suites were, which she preferred. Her father is also on the fourth floor and he chose a key that was a little way to the right hall wing. The others probably chose the third or second-floor rooms to reside in for now.

She raised the key and read the number. Hers was on the left-wing and it was a suite with a window.

"402," Azula murmurs as she inserted the metal key into the lock of the hard wooden door. She opened it to see that it was a moderately nice-sized old room. Closing the door behind her, she observed where she was staying. The room has a bathroom to her left, a couch at the right side of the wall, a kitchenette further ahead, and two beds on the left side, along with a large window, was straight ahead.

As said before, it was old looking, and perhaps a little dusty, but honestly, she didn't care as long there was a made-up bed for here. An _actual_ bed.

Sighing, she went and claimed the left bed and plopped down face-first on it. She can smell the musty dust on the covers, but that didn't matter. She wants to rest after all the traveling she endured...

She still wondered what these people have in store for them tomorrow...

She doesn't trust this Daria character one bit. She doesn't know if she can trust any of these people that reside on this island.

All she knows is that they've been given a way to escape a little too easily here. Why would they even bother saving them in the first place anyway? Didn't they say they basically lived on this island their whole lives? But if that's true, then how did they know about recent events in the Fire Nation? From this...'Mother' Daria? How can that be? She has to have been on the mainland before, right?

...This really feels off.

And she doesn't like it one bit.

For now, she'll be on her guard from anything...

A small nap, however, was in order.

Azula closed her eyes as she drifted off to a night of peaceful sleep...

For now, the silence welcomes her...

* * *

 _ **...Heh-heh-heh...**_

 _ **Sweet dreams...**_

 _ **Cause tomorrow, I'm bringing in my new TOYS for you all to play with...**_

 _ **In the meantime...I'm gonna have some late night fun with some**_ **intruders** ** _that are dropping in._**

 _ **Finally...I was**_ **dying** ** _of boredom here..._**

 _ **Heh-heh-heeeeh...**_

* * *

They've arrived at the Fire Nation Palace in the seventh hour. It was nighttime, and Appa landed at the front entrance of the Palace, letting them all get off of the air bison one by one. The lit exterior of the Palace glowed in the night and guards outside of the front entrance stood side by side from each other to guard the intricate dragon-laced double mahogany doors.

"Man, I can never get used to flying all day with no ground to walk on!" Toph made her statement known as she landed on her two feet. "No offense, Hairball."

Appa groaned in appreciation.

"It does get tiring after a while." Suki agreed as she was helped down by Sokka.

"Well, we're here on time. That's all that matters," Katara said as she slid down off of Appa.

Aang floated on the ground using his air-bending, while meanwhile flew over to him and landed on one of his shoulders, "Yeah. Now we get to see what the situation is with Zuko."

"Well, I'll tell you one thing, I hope they have food there waiting for us. I am honestly hungry enough to eat a whole ostrich-horse," Sokka half-joked as he grabbed his growling stomach.

"I can see it. And I can't even see." Toph dryly joked.

Aang chuckled, "I'm sure there's food waiting for us, Sokka. Come on, we need to get inside."

As they all passed the guards, who welcomed them into the Palace, they ventured forth inside to find Zuko, While they walked inside, they met with a familiar face in the main hall.

"Iroh!" Toph exclaimed with a grin. She dashed over to the old fire-bender and gave him a big hug, which Iroh returned with a warm laugh.

"Lady Bei Fong! How are you?" Iroh asked with a smile as they let go of their hug.

"Doing good, ya old badger-mole!" Toph answered, still grinning.

"Iroh! Hey!" Aang called out as he went over to him as well, while Momo flew off of Aang and onto Toph's shoulders. Sokka, Suki, and Katara rushed behind them expressing their delighted surprise to see him there.

"Ah, young Avatar! Lady Katara and Suki! And as well as Warrior Sokka! Good of you all to come at such short notice!" Iroh said to them all in a jovial matter.

"Man, it's always good to see you, Iroh. Especially when you call me by that title," Sokka said with a boastful smirk.

"Sokka, don't be getting yourself a big ego right now," Suki rolled her eyes as she pulled his left ear with her fingers.

"Ow!" Sokka cried out as he rubbed his ear form the pain.

"Tch, some warrior," Katara now rolled her eyes with a smirk while Toph snickered. She then directed her attention to Iroh and said with a genuine smile, "It is really great to see you again though, Iroh."

Iroh chuckled, "Same to you all. It's good to have more company in the Palace," he frowned, "Zuko needs all the help he can get."

"Well, we'll be there for him. Where is he now?" Aang asked.

"In the dining hall. He has a meal prepared for you all, so you all came just in time," Iroh told them with a smile.

"Say no more!" Sokka said enthusiastically with a grin, "Come on guys, let's see Zuko and get to the food!" he proclaimed as he points his hand in the main hall's direction.

"Sokka, you don't even know where the dining hall is," Katara said to him dryly with her hands on her hips, while Suki shook her head at her boyfriend's one track mind.

"He can probably track it with his nose," Aang joke-suggested, which made Toph laugh at it.

"Haha! Hey, that's a good one, Twinkles!" she complimented her friend with a smirk.

"Thanks!" Aang smiled.

"Hey, come on!" Sokka pouted.

"Why not I show you all to the dining hall?" Iroh suggested peacefully.

"I actually know where it is, but I'll let you lead, Iroh," Katara said with a kind smile.

Iroh chuckled, "Why thank you, Katara."

Aang looked at Katara with a confused frown, "You know where the dining hall to the Fire Nation Palace is?"

"Wait! You _know_ where the dining hall is?" Sokka asked in shock.

"Uh, Sokka, that's what Aang basically said," Suki said in a monotone.

Katara blinked, "Well, yeah. I was in the Palace at the time to see if the lightning bolt to his chest by Azula would heal over time. I've been walking around the Palace for a while and knowing the layout around here until it was time for another healing session," she then muttered, "This place is really big though."

"Oh..." Aang doesn't know why, but that bothered him a bit. He shook his head slightly to rid the thought.

Unknown to him, Toph noticed his tense posture. She chose to ignore it for now and proclaimed, "Well, let's get going and meet up with Zuko already!"

"Absolutely, Little Lady! Follow me," Iroh said cheerfully as he led the Gaang to where Zuko is.

* * *

Zuko took a bite of a strip of chicken-pork with his chopsticks. Sitting in the dining hall and at the top side of the table, he contemplated his decision on sending the special ops team immediately during the late morning. As he wrote the letter and stamp a seal of approval, thus handing it to Hari to give to the Fire Nation Military Base in the southern part of the Nation to send through via messenger hawk. Later on, at the last hour, he received a letter from a messenger hawk that came from the base, telling him that they will get prepared to fly to the island.

These soldiers were said to be strong fire-benders from what he heard and were experts in stealth. Each base consists of a special ops team of five expert fire-benders, and next to the Capital City's base, the southern base is said to hold the more experienced soldiers. He had to admit, sending five soldiers to take care of who knows how many were on the island is a risky move, but he has to capture his father and Azula as fast as he can. He just hopes that they proceed with caution as he said.

He sighed...

"Your friends have arrived, my Nephew!" called out Iroh's happy voice.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Zuko smiled and stood up to see that his friends have indeed arrived. "Everyone! You all came!"

"Of course, Zuko!" Aang said with a cheerful smile.

"What's up, Sparky?" said Toph with a smirk.

"Hey, Zuko!" Suki chimed in.

"Zuko my man, how are ya? Nice selection of food you got here!" Sokka greeted.

Katara smiled at Zuko, "Hey Zuko! It's been a while."

Zuko smiled at them all, and let his gaze wander a bit at Katara. He then chuckled and said, "It's great to see you all again. Please, help yourselves to the food."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Sokka said as he looked to have already gotten some food off the table and onto his plate.

Katara and Suki facepalmed their foreheads.

"You got one heck of a boyfriend there," Katara told Suki in a dry joking matter.

"Heh, thanks," Suki smiled, "He's one of a kind. Couldn't have it any other way."

"Hey, Katara! I saved you a place next to me!" Aang said as he motioned the seat next to his, which his was pulled out and was next to Zuko's seat.

Zuko raised a brow, "Aang, you're supposed to pull the chair for the lady."

Aang blinked, "Oh! Um...right! Of course!" he got up and pulled out Katara's chair for her.

Katara smiled, "Thank you both."

Aang frowned slightly but thought nothing of it when he remembered that she thanked him too. Katara went over to her seat that Aang pulled out and sits on it.

"Ah, very good Zuko. Always be courtly to a young woman," Iroh stated.

Sokka upon seeing and hearing that began to go to the other side of the table and pull out Suki's chair while holding his plate in one hand. "For you, madam."

Suki giggled and went over to sit on the chair, "Thank you, Sokka."

Iroh pulled out a chair next to Katara, "Would you like to sit here, Lady Bei Fong?"

"Eh, why not? Thanks, Iroh," Toph said with a smile as she sat on the chair pulled out by Iroh.

"Will you be also joining us, Iroh?" Aang asked as he sat on his seat next to Katara's other side and next to Zuko.

"Of course! I haven't eaten any supper either," he looked at Toph, "Would it be alright if I sit next to you?"

Toph snickered, "Come on, Iroh, you know you don't have to ask! Tell me some juicy details on Zuko while you're at it!"

"Toph!" Katara scolded.

"Aw come on, Sugar Queen, you know you want some dirt on Zuko," Toph said with a smirk at Katara.

Katara crossed her arms and pouted as her face flushed. Aang on the other hand, frowned once more, feeling somewhat bothered by Toph's comment as well as Katara's reaction.

"Oh, I have plenty of stories about Zuko in his younger years," Iroh said with a chuckle.

"Awesome! What's the most embarrassing one?" Toph asked in glee.

"Uncle, _no._ Please don't tell them anything about my younger years!" Zuko facepalmed in embarrassment.

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea! Dinner and a show!" Sokka joked.

"Guys, don't make fun of Zuko, he's our host," Katara gently reprimanded.

" _Thank you_ ," Zuko said with a grateful smile towards Katara.

"No problem," Katara said with a smile towards him as well.

Aang cleared his throat, "Well, um, let's stop making fun of Zuko and get to eating then, shall we?"

"You know what? As much as I like to see an embarrassed Zuko, I agree with that notion! Let's eat!" Sokka proclaimed.

"Sokka, we got more important things at hand beside eating," Suki reminded him.

"That's right," Katara nodded, "We need to know where Ozai, Azula, and these escaped prisoners went to."

"Oh...well, yeah, but, can't we eat and discuss it later?" Sokka suggested.

"Sokka, they could be plotting to overthrow Zuko right now, and all you could think is about your _stomach_?" Katara exclaimed in frustration.

Sokka winced, "Okay, okay! I mean...I just don't want it to get cold. I mean, I care about ol' Hothead here as well! I just don't want to let this food go to waste!"

"Thanks, Sokka," Zuko said with rolled eyes. "But how about we discuss the matter while we eat?"

"Whatever rocks all your boats. I'm getting hungry myself," Toph put her two pieces in.

"Um...that's fine," Aang said, feeling a little awkward all of a sudden.

"So...where do you think Ozai, Azula, and the rest of these prisoners went off to?" asked Suki.

"My intel told me that my father, sister, and the rest of the escapees were heading towards an island...they think," Zuko explained.

"An island?" Katara wondered.

"It is called _Sairento Hiruzu_. It means in the old language, 'Silent Hills', which there's a resort town that goes by that name," Iroh elaborates.

" _Another_ resort town in the Fire Nation? Man, Zuko, your people are living it up." Sokka said with a grin and a thumbs up.

"I actually didn't know it existed until now," Zuko said honestly.

"You didn't? Why's that?" Aang asked curiously.

"I just...didn't. Uncle heard of it, though." Zuko said as they direct their attention to Iroh.

"Well, I never actually been to it, but I heard it's beautiful...however, it soon became an attraction for criminals. Thus, it became uninhabitable...at least that's what I heard last time."

"So there have to be people living on this island since they're going that way, right?" Toph asked questionably.

"We think. I sent a special ops team of one of my country's military bases in the south to go over to the island to retrieve them." Zuko informed.

"Is that a good idea?" Katara asked with uncertainty.

"Don't worry, these men are very loyal to whoever is Fire Lord. They won't be swayed by my father's words," Zuko reassured.

"Well, we're gonna go down to this island and beat some heads in, right?" Toph asked planting a fist into her tiny hand.

"Tomorrow, yes. But for now, the team is probably on their way to the island." Zuko told everyone.

"So, basically a 'retrieve former Jerk Lord' mission? Sounds good enough for me!" Sokka said with a shrug.

"However..." Iroh said, earning everyone to look at him again, "It is said that Sairento Hiruzu is a sacred place."

"A sacred place?" Katara asked in interest.

"What kind of sacred place?" Suki also asked.

"Well...they say that it's a beautiful and quiet island," Iroh answered with a shrug as well.

"That it?" Toph blew her bangs upward. "Doesn't sound too sacred to me. Although it does sound like a nice vacation. Well, the quiet part for me, that is."

"Hmm...perhaps there are spirits there that cursed the land because people have been getting too rowdy." Iroh stroked his beard in thought.

"Uncle, there's no such thing as curses," Zuko said with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, that's like totally ridiculous," Sokka said, "It's probably that way because it got too popular or something."

"I'm not one for believing in curses either, as I don't have any eyesight to see it," commented Toph.

"Well...you never know," Katara said a little uneasy.

"Oh come on Sugar Queen, you don't believe in that stuff, do you?" Toph asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"No!" Katara said with a blush, "...But it's good to be always cautious," she said a shrug of her own.

"Look, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but Sokka's right on his part," Zuko said.

"I am?" Sokka asked in a slight shock. He grinned, "Well well, even the Fire Lord agrees with me!"

" _Anyways_ , the island may have gotten too popular at one point and it got too seedy. Even Ember Island has it's own skeletons in its closets," explained Zuko.

"But you may never know as Katara said," Iroh pointed out.

"Ugh," Zuko facepalmed.

"A sacred place, huh?" Aang lowered his head to think, "Well, I'm no stranger to sacred places, so maybe I can talk to any spirits and negotiate with them?"

"Yeah! We have the Avatar here! Problem solved!" smiled Sokka as he gestured to Aang.

"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let's eat!" Toph said as she dug in with her chopsticks.

"Yes, I am quite famished," Iroh said as he picked up his chopsticks.

"Finally! Something we can all agree on!" Sokka said as he dug in as he ate rapidly.

"Sokka, don't eat so fast," Suki scold gently.

While Aang was about to dig into his vegetable plate, he heard Zuko told Katara, "Don't worry, Katara. There's no curse or anything on this island. It's just rumors and speculation. There may be spirits on the island, so maybe we just need to respect the land as best as we can."

Katara smiled warmly with a nod at the Fire Lord, "Thanks, Zuko."

Aang then piped up, "Besides, I'm the Avatar! I can speak to any spirits if things go awry. I'll protect you, Katara, no worries!"

Katara looked at Aang with a smile that wasn't like the one she aimed at Zuko. "Thank you, Aang." She then began eating.

Aang frowned, but he smiled back forcefully at her, even though she couldn't see it. He then began eating his food as well.

Zuko looked at them in question but thought nothing of it as he dug in the rest of his chicken-pork.

However, Aang was thinking about Katara and Zuko's interaction...

 _It meant nothing...it meant nothing at all...they're friends...Katara and I are together..._ Aang thought as he ate another green string bean.

 _...But then...why would she not..._ do that _with me? I mean...I get that I'm young, but..._

Aang shook his head and went back to eating his food.

Tomorrow, they go to Sairento Hiruzu.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 4**

* * *

 **Okay then! Chapter 5(or 4. Either one.) is done! I got nothing to say here, except tell me how it is! Leave me a fave, follow, and/or a review! I love to know what you think of it! :)**

 **Next chapter...some stuff happens. You'll have to wait and see. ;)**

 **Thank you all for reading and keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	6. 5: Letter

**[EDIT: 11/6/2019]**

* * *

 **9:30 PM**

* * *

Aang laid there on his guest room bed, awake and looking up at the canopy ceiling...

Dinner has passed and everyone felt tired from traveling the whole day, so they all went to get some shut eye for tomorrow. However, Aang couldn't sleep...

 _...It's nothing._ he thought with furrowed brows and a frown.

Katara and Zuko's interaction was just...friendly banter. They haven't seen each other and they're being good friends...

Aang looked down in thought as he laid there.

* * *

" _Hey, Katara!" called out Aang as he dashed up to the young water-bender girl._

 _She was walking up to her room in the hallway of the guest quarters, which his room was across from hers conveniently. Turning around to face him, she gave him a smile, "Oh, hey Aang. What's up?"_

 _As soon as Aang got close enough to Katara, he stopped and said, "Oh, nothing much! I was just, um...wondering what you were up to?"_

 _Katara quirked a brow, "Well, I was going to go to bed."_

" _You are? I mean, don't you, uh...want to hang out?" Aang asked with a hopeful look._

" _Aang, it's late. We have to rest tomorrow so we can go to this island to meet up and retrieve Ozai, Azula, and these other prisoners. You should probably get to bed too." suggested Katara._

" _B-But I'm not tired! I just..." he sighed, "...I just want to spend time with you, Katara."_

 _Katara frowned, "Aang..." she stood there in silence for a moment._

" _I mean...we haven't technically been hanging out recently. We haven't even seen each other...I mean, we were at the Spring Festival at Omashu, but...it just didn't felt like it was enough. It felt like...you were avoiding me." Aang said with a sad frown._

" _No, Aang, of course not," Katara said to ease his doubts, "I just..."_

" _Just what?" he asked softly asked, "I mean, I know we both have duties and you're doing yours while I do mine, but..." he sighed once more, "I just want to be with you, Katara."_

 _Katara said nothing as they both stood there..._

" _...That was basically why..." Aang started, "...I want to do_ that _with you."_

 _Katara looked at Aang...and said, "Aang...I know you love me, and I love you...but you have to know that...sometimes life just gets in the way."_

 _Aang gazed down in silence as he looked forlorn._

 _She frowned deeper when seeing his dejected state. She had to make it up to him... "Aang, I mean it. Once we get Ozai and everyone else, we'll have time for each other. You and I will have a day to ourselves. I promise."_

 _Aang looked up at Katara with hopeful eyes. "You really mean it?"_

" _Absolutely," Katara nodded with a sincere smile._

 _Aang smiled widely, "That's great! And hey, when we do catch Ozai and the others, and if the island is home to some cranky spirits, we can maybe see what this Sairento Hiruzu has to offer! Since, you know, it's a resort town."_

 _Katara giggled, "Maybe."_

 _Grinning, Aang felt elated._

" _Well, I'm gonna get to bed. You probably should too. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Aang," Katara said as she turned to her door._

" _Wait!" the air-bender exclaimed, "A-Aren't you forgetting something?"_

 _The water-bender stopped and turned her head to Aang, "Uh...no, I don't think so."_

 _Aang frowned again, "Our kiss goodnight."_

 _Katara blinked, "Oh...r-right. I'm sorry, it...must've slipped my mind."_

" _Oh, n-no worries! This_ has _been a recent thing! I just...you know, want to show you that I love you!" Aang told her._

" _Right..." Katara said._

" _So..." The young boy stood straight as he closed his eyes and slightly puckered out his lips._

 _The young lady looked at him for a moment...almost like she was hesitating._

 _When not feeling any lip contact on his lip, Aang opened his eyes slightly._

 _Katara then quickly gave him a peck on the lips, surprising the air-bender._

" _Um..." she smiled, although it looked forced, "Good night, Aang. L-Love you." and with that, she opened the door, went inside, and closed it._

 _Aang stood there..._

* * *

...No matter how much that kiss sent a tingle down his spine...the kiss itself didn't feel genuine.

Aang laid there on his bed thinking of the memory...of the kiss...of her behavior...her stance...

...Her _body_...

Shaking his head, he canceled out those thoughts.

 _No, I shouldn't be thinking these thoughts. ...Why am I though? I mean...Katara_ is _pretty...yeah, she really is...she's...really..._

Aang gulped.

… _Pretty._

He shook head again and sat up, "Ugh!" he put a hand on his head, "I haven't even..." he sighed and mumbled, "...I just wish I can... _touch_ her in a way..."

...To touch her _bare_ _skin_...

Aang groaned as he put his hands on his face, "What's wrong with me?" he muffled behind his hands. He let go of his face and swung his legs off the bed as he sat there on the side of it, looking down in thought.

He wanted his relationship with Katara to be like Sokka and Suki's. Where they touch each other, give each other kisses...be _intimate_.

That's what couples do, right? He just...doesn't understand why he and Katara aren't intimate with each other.

"I mean, I'm not asking her to...do _that_. I'm just...I just want to..." he blew a sigh out of his nose.

He sat there in the dark, alone and _simply...frustrated_.

His thoughts went back to Katara and Zuko's interactions, how they looked at each other with so much...warmth. And when they talk to each other, they seem so...happy?

Katara looked... _happy_ when she's either with or communicated with Zuko.

"...How come she's not _that_ happy when she's with me?" Aang asked himself, hoping he gets an answer from none other than himself...maybe possibly from the Avatars. Sure, she was happy with Aang, but...she never looked at him with so much...warmth? Tenderness? ...Love?

 _ **Knock-knock**_

Aang heard the soft knocking on his door as his head perked up at the sound, "Hello?" he conjured a flame in his hand.

 _Katara?_

The door opened, revealing the person to be none other than...

"Hey, Twinkletoes."

"Oh...hi, Toph," Aang said, a little bit disappointed.

Toph frowned, "Well, gee, sorry I'm not the person you thought you were expecting."

Aang blinked, "Oh! No, I, uh-I was just..." he sighed, "Sorry."

Toph shrugged, "Eh, don't worry about it. I actually came here to see if you were okay."

He looked at her in what little light that he made, "Really?"

"Well, that, and Sokka and Suki won't stop going at it like jackalopes," Toph grimaced, "Sheesh, they're right next door to me too. Just be glad you don't have sensitive hearing."

"Oh..."

"So why so glum, chum?" Toph asked as she closed the door and went over to where he was.

"I'm not glum," Aang denied.

"You really want to lie to me right now?" Toph asked cynically as she got closer to Aang, the fire lighting up her facial features. She had her hands on her hips and...

Aang blinked again. "Your...hair is down."

"Pfft!" she blew a strand of her bangs away from her face, and said with a cynic droll, "Wow, really? Thanks, Captain Obvious."

 _Wow...Toph looks...really_ nice _with her hair down._ Aang's eyes widened at that train of thought, letting him shake his head to clear it. "U-Um..."

"So yeah, anyway, don't try to change the subject and lie to me. You might as well just fess up. What's wrong, Twinkletoes?" Toph asked as she hopped on the bed and sat next to him.

Surprised that Toph would be brazen enough to just jump on his bed for the night, Aang extinguished the flame out of his hand and cleared his throat out of nervousness and said, "W-Well...what makes you think something is wrong in the first place?"

"Well, you're not as chipper as usual. You kind of were when we flew on Appa, but ever since we landed here in the Palace shortly after, you seemed tense."

"I..." he was going to deny it, but thought better of it, since his friend is a walking lie-detector. Aang sighed, "Okay, you caught me."

"As usual."

Aang scowled at her but realized she couldn't see it. Shaking his head with a groan, "It's just...well, you know that me and Katara are together, right?"

"Uh-huh. I'm fully aware."

"Well..." Aang frowned at the thought, but he kept going, "Toph, did...did you notice that Katara seemed... _different_ when...she was around Zuko?"

Toph sat there in thought...and then she said, "Maybe."

Aang blanched in horror. "W-What do you mean?"

Toph sighed, "Twinkles, look, I know where this is heading, and let me just say that Sugar Queen would not go that far as to cheat on you."

"Cheat on me!?" Aang said in a panic.

"Calm down, lover-boy," Toph said with a hand raised to stop him, "Sure, she may have been a little lighter when she was around Zuko-"

"She was!?"

"BUT, I think it's just a phase. I mean, she chose you, didn't she?"

"...Well...yeah..." Aang said, feeling a little calm when thinking about it.

"And you two have been together since when?" she asked him.

"...Around three months actually."

"Right! And you and I and everyone else know that Katara is definitely not a floozy! She's way too sweet to even entertain the thought of cheating on you, especially since both of you have been recently dating. Not saying that she would cheat, but she would've said something to you if your relationship with her wasn't going anywhere."

"Yeah...yeah."

"And besides, you're the Avatar! That's like a high status in itself! Higher than a Fire Lord, if you ask me."

"...Yeah," Aang smiled, feeling elated.

"Plus, girls are falling at your feet everywhere you go. Of course, I don't know why they would do that, you'll always be fluttery ol' Twinkletoes to me," she joked.

Aang chuckled at that and sat there looking at the floor in thought.

"...Thanks, Toph," he said glancing at his good friend with a smile.

"Eh, just don't worry about it. I believe these things work out well in the end. As I would say, 'Let the rock roll in place'."

Aang snickered at that, "Wow, never heard of that phrase before."

Toph smirked, "That's because I made it up."

Now the air-bender laughed softly, while Toph chuckled. Enjoying the moment of humor, Aang turned to Toph, "Really though, thank you Toph."

"Hey, no prob. If you ever want any advice, I'll be as blunt as possible." she hopped off the bed, "Well, I guess I'll get back to my room. Maybe Sokka and Suki cooled down a bit."

Aang watched her go and felt like he needs to repay her. "Hey, Toph."

Toph stopped halfway to the door. "Yeah?"

"You know...if Sokka and Suki are still at it...you can sleep in my bed if you want."

Toph turned to Aang with wide-eyed shock.

Realizing how that sounds, Aang blanched once more, "I-I mean, I'll sleep in your room! I mean, because you don't have to hear them! I mean, because, you know, your ears are sensitive! You can, um, sleep here, while I sleep in your room! That's what I meant!" his face redden as the heat risen to his face.

Toph stood there for a moment, stunned. Then when she came to and realized what he meant, she said, "Oh..." she then blinked, "Wait, are you sure?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, y-yeah! I mean...I just want to...repay you for making me feel better," he said sheepishly.

"Oh...well, if you can stand the noises next door, then...okay," Toph shrugged, feeling a little weird.

"Yeah, no problem!" Aang said with a smile as he got off his bed and made his way to the door, but not until he passed Toph and put a hand on her shoulder and said sincerely, "Thanks again, Toph."

The earth-bender girl smiled a little as well, "No prob, Twinkles. Have a good night's rest. We're gonna need it tomorrow."

"We sure do. Night, Toph."

As Aang exits the room, Toph stood there for a moment, sensing his footsteps going to her room...

She walked over to his bed, climbed on it, and rest on the mattress...

She frowned.

She had felt Katara's heartbeat whenever she was with Zuko...it felt too much like something else...something more than a phase.

"...I hope I'm wrong on this one, Twinkletoes."

And with that, she drifted off to sleep...

* * *

 **10:30 PM**

* * *

Five fire-benders and a messenger hawk were all inside and stationed into a small airship carrier that was heading to the island. It was at the beginning of the night and they left extremely early than they planned. In fact, it was the message that made them go to the island as quickly as possible. The messenger hawk that arrived at the base received them a message of utmost urgency and importance, that the team wasted no time putting their armor on and going out into the evening.

They flew for what exactly felt like two hours, but are coming up to their destination now.

 _Sairento Hiruzu_.

One of the soldiers, a man in his twenties, almost drifted off to sleep from where he was sitting...

"Henrai! Wake up!" said a gruff voice.

The soldier known as Henrai perked his head back up into the waking world. "S-Sorry, I'm awake...ugh," he rubbed his eyes, "are we there yet?"

The gruff voice belongs to an older man in his late fifties who looked to be the commander of the team due to his rugged experience. The man shook his head and sighed, "Almost. Just get your head in the game, Henrai. We can't sleep on this mission, no matter how late it is."

"Wish we had some rest," muttered another man in his twenties that was sitting across Henrai.

"I don't make the rules, Areku," the commander told the soldier. "We've been informed by Fire Lord Zuko that his father, former Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Azula, along with the other escaped prisoners are on this island that we're about to land in," he turned to the pilot who was driving the airship carrier, "How long do we have until we reach the shore, Torubi?"

"About ten minutes from now, Commander Dagura," said the pilot/soldier named Torubi, who looked to be in his twenties as well, as he looked ahead at the windshield through a telescope while driving, "I think I see one of our ships in the distance. They've surely landed here."

"Man, we're ordered to retrieve the former Fire Lord _and_ former Princess by the Fire Lord?" said another soldier that was in his late twenties sitting next to Areku, shaking his head at the irony of it, "Try to make sense out of that."

"We need to also retrieve the prisoners as well, Mafi," Dagura reminded him. He turned to Torubi and told him, "Try to find us a place to land somewhere that's not close to the airship. Somewhere that looks safe enough to land, and make as less noise as you can."

"Aye aye, sir," Torubi said as he steered the carrier airship to the right of the island.

Once they flew close enough to the shore, they made their descent to the far right side of the beach and softly landed on the sand away from the airships and ships' docks.

"Alright," Dagura said, "We've arrived at Sairento Hiruzu. Everyone get into positions."

Henrai, Areku, and Mafi all got up from their seats as Torubi walked away from the steering wheel to stand by each other, with Dagura in the middle.

"Sairento Hiruzu, huh? I heard this island is infamous," Areku said.

"That it is. Full of seedy stuff went on here. It's just an abandoned resort town now," Dagura answered.

"Apparently not, since there are people supposedly living on this island. I mean, whoever broke them out has to have their base here, right?" Torubi asked.

"Yeah. Which means we have to fight some of these new hostiles. Here's hoping they come quietly," Mafi told them all.

"It is a shame though about this island. I heard this place was really gorgeous. I've also heard that the town here, _Silent Hills_ , used to a fun place." Henrai commented.

"Well, we're not here for a fun time, Henrai, we're here on a mission," Dagura said, making the situation known, "Alright men, once we lower the hatch, be on your guard. Try to keep your fire-bending to a minimum so we won't be detected. Once we reach the town, if there's anyone there at this time of night, we'll make them lead us to where Ozai, Azula, and the prisoners are. If these hostiles attack, it is by my orders that we defend ourselves and shoot to kill. When we retrieve our target, we'll write back a message to the Fire Lord via messenger hawk. Alright then, any questions?"

"No sir," Torubi said.

"None whatsoever," Mafi also said.

"None by me," Areku replied.

"Uh, no sir," Henrai said.

Dagura nodded, "Then let's move. Torubi, lower the hatch."

Torubi nodded as well and used the twist lever to let the hatch door descend slowly onto the sand, where they met the night and its fog.

"Sheesh, foggy much?" Mafi muttered.

"Hmm, it looks like we need to use our bending for this," Dagura said quietly as he conjured up a small flame in his hand. Everyone else summoned a flame onto their hands as well, "Follow my lead."

Dagura was the first that came out of the airship carrier while the others followed suit, leaving the messenger hawk inside. They gradually wandered into the fog as they proceed into the forest, their stances on high alert as they quietly ventured through...to Silent Hills.

...Inside the forest, however...something waited for them...

* * *

 **6:00 AM**

* * *

Zuko wakes up from the light of the sun as it illuminates his bedroom.

Getting out of his bed, he got dressed in his casual Fire Nation garb, not wanting to adorn the Fire Lord outfit, as it would be too formal...even though he did want his father, sister, and these prisoners to remind them on who they're up against. But chances are, they'll have a fight on their hands if the special ops team hasn't dealt with them...which he hoped they had. They told him that they'll send a messenger hawk to let him know that they've gotten them all in custody. Honestly, the only real threat they would have is Azula...but if these prisoners and people who broke them out are somewhat of a threat as well, then maybe they're having a tougher time then he thought. He really hopes not...with all that said, he really did trust these men to do the job. They all met before when Zuko was crowned Fire Lord, and they've pledged loyalty to him, saying that they've not agreed with his father's views, as well as not being keen on his past reign. Zuko was thankful that he at least have supporters who will stand by him...much like his friends and Uncle.

Either way, he got dressed, putting on dark long pants, and putting on a red tunic, along with some Fire Nation boots. He looked at himself in the mirror and briefly wondered if this was too casual. He's been banished and hanging out with his friends for so long, that he hasn't thought once about how he should look for the trip. He even had his hair down to his shoulders. Deciding that it doesn't really matter, he gave an affirmed nod at his reflection and exits his bedroom.

As he walked through the halls in the early morning to go to the kitchen to get something to eat, he took a turn around the corner to see someone familiar...

"Katara?" he said in surprise.

Katara, who had her back facing Zuko, was startled by his voice and turned around to see the young Fire Lord. "Oh, Zuko..." she sighed a breath of relief, "It's just you."

Zuko looked at her in concern, "Is something wrong? It's really early in the morning. Usually, I rise with the sun," he said, trying to joke.

She chuckled, which for some reason, made Zuko happy. His Uncle's corny jokes must be rubbing off on him.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just...felt like getting up early today, you know?" Katara said with an innocent shrug.

"Oh, okay...well, do you want something for breakfast? The chefs usually cook something at this hour." Zuko offered.

Katara smiled. "That would be nice. If it's anything like last night's dinner, I would love to see what they cook up for breakfast."

Smiling as well, Zuko said, "Well, uh, let's...go on over there then."

The water-bender giggled, which made Zuko feel even more elated. _She has a really nice laugh..._

"Alright then," Katara said with a grin, "Lead the way, My Lord," she said as she stepped aside and gestured with her hands.

Zuko chuckled, "Sure thing."

They walked side by side down the hall to make their way to the kitchen. As they did, they made idle conversation.

"So...did you sleep well?" Zuko asked Katara.

"Oh yes, I did! Very well, actually," Katara said to him with a smile, "Those beds are so comfortable, a spirit-send. It made me forget all about my worries."

Zuko blinked, "Worries?"

Realizing what she said, her eyes widened, "I-I mean, not that I'm worried about...um, about anything!" Katara said stuttered, "Why would I? I'm just...well, I mean, I'm..." she looked hesitant to continue. She stopped and gazed down at the floor, her posture looking despondent and crestfallen.

Zuko stopped as well, a little confused but also concerned once more, "Katara?"

Staying silent for a moment, she sighed, "Actually...I need to talk to you about something, Zuko."

He looked at her with a worried frown, "Is everything okay?"

"...I don't know..." she turned her head to Zuko, "Is it okay if we speak somewhere private?"

"Sure," Zuko nodded, "We can go to my study."

"That would be great."

They made their way over there, navigating halls until they reached the study. Zuko closed the double doors behind them, while Katara went to his desk and leaned back on it.

"What's going on, Katara?" Zuko asked her as she stared at her.

"...Zuko, did you ever...feel like you've made a mistake?" Katara asked him.

Zuko just blinked as gave her a wry look of amusement. "I've made plenty of mistakes in my life."

Realizing that she hit a touchy subject, her eyes widened as she blushed, "I-I mean...oh, Zuko, I'm _so_ sorry, those were poor choices of words. I wasn't thinking, I-I mean, I completely...forgot," she said with a cringe.

Thankfully, Zuko chuckled, "No, it's fine. In fact, I'm glad you've forgotten all that had transpired between us during the war."

Katara smiled in relief.

"But you're gonna have to be more specific, Katara. What kind of mistake did you make?"

She frowned, "Well, what I mean is...well, say that you said something you shouldn't have said, but you couldn't find the way to handle the moment. And now you're regretting you said it, but you can't be able to tell that person, because the damage is already done?" Katara explained.

Zuko stared at her a little confused at her way of words...until his eyes widened in realization. "Is this...about Aang?"

She gazed down at the floor with a forlorn frown. "...I...I don't know what to do, Zuko. I-I love him, but...just not in that way."

The young Fire Lord was silent, taking what Katara said in an account. "...This feels like when me and Mai broke up."

Katara looked up at Zuko.

He continued, "It...wasn't easy, but...I told her that I wasn't...really in love with her."

"...How did she take it?"

"...Not good. She was upset, and...stormed out of the palace."

"...There's no good side to this, is there?" Katara droned with a dubious look.

"...Well, we're kind of getting there on just being friends, if that helps," Zuko said sheepishly.

Katara groaned, putting a hand on her forehead. "Zuko, I can't tell him that I don't feel that way about him. He's still so young, and..." she let her hand dropped away from her forehead and sighed, "I don't want to break his heart."

Zuko stood there in thought as he looked down. "...Have you tried talking to him about it?"

"...I'm scared to."

"Because he wouldn't understand?"

Remaining silent, Katara still leaned back on the desk. After a moment. she looked at Zuko, "I really messed up, Zuko."

"How?"

"...I...he said some things to me...and I didn't know how to respond to it."

"...What kind of things?"

"...I..." she sighed miserably, "Zuko-"

Suddenly, one of the double doors opened to reveal...

"Zuko?" said the voice of Iroh, "Katara?"

Zuko turned around to see his uncle, "Uncle! Good morning. Um, Katara and I were just discussing some private matters."

"Uh, hey Iroh. Good morning," Katara greeted Iroh with a soft smile.

Iroh smiled back at them. "Well then, I am really sorry to interrupt. However, I was looking for you Zuko, because a messenger hawk came this morning. I think it is from the special ops team."

"From the team? Already?" Zuko asked in surprise. _That was quick._

"Yes, my Nephew. It was addressed to you. It has the Royal Family Seal on it."

Zuko's posture tensed, almost like he's mentally preparing himself, "Alright. I would like to read it then."

Iroh came up to his nephew and gave him the message. Like his uncle said, it had the Royal Family Seal on it, meaning only members of the Royal Family should read it.

As Zuko was beginning to slide off the seal, Katara walked up behind him to see if she can catch a glimpse of what the letter says. As soon as the young Fire Lord opened it, he read it to himself.

"What does it say?" Katara asked him.

Zuko scan through the note...his eyes widened in shock, along with his mouth agape.

"Zuko?" spoke Iroh in a concern toned when he noticed his nephew's look of incredulity.

The Fire Lord's hands...were shaking.

Katara noticed this as well. "Zuko? Are you okay?"

"Uncle?" Zuko said suddenly, "Who sent this?"

Iroh blinked, "Well, I would assume the special task-"

"No, really, who sent this?" Zuko's voice was firm.

"Zuko?" Katara said, a little confused on his instant change of tone.

Iroh looked at him in wonder, confusion etched on his face as well.

"Uncle...this isn't from the team," Zuko stated.

Eyes widened, Iroh looked at him curiously, "It isn't?"

"What? Zuko, what does it say?" Katara asked him as she peeked around his arm.

She read the note clearly:

 _Zuko,_

 _I found a lake...the lake is so gorgeous._

 _You have to see it...there are turtle-ducks everywhere._

 _I wish you were here..._

 _Your father and sister are here..._

 _Now only you remain._

 _And I miss you._

 _Come...come to me...come to us...t_ _o Silent Hills in Sairento Hiruzu._

 _We can be a family again._

 _I love you...Zuko._

 _Signed..._

Now Katara's eyes widened in shock. "Wait...it says..."

"What is the matter?" Iroh asked worry etched in his facial features. "What does the note say?"

Katara jerked her attention back at Iroh and then looked back at Zuko, who stood there in disbelief.

"Uncle...this letter..." Zuko said, trying to form the next words out of his mouth, "...is from my mother."

* * *

 **End of Chapter 5**

* * *

 **For real this time, the next chapter will have the Gaang going to Silent Hills. XP**

 **Wow, I'm on a roll, huh? I have three chapters all out at a single row! I might do this with my other stories from now on! So who knows? Maybe I'll do three chapters of _Clown_ or _To Rise_! You'll have to see! ;)**

 **So yeah, with all that said, what do you think of the chapter? Do you like it? Leave me a review! Do you want to follow and fave it? Then go on ahead! ;) I love to hear what you think! ^_^**

 **Until next time, keep on rocking everybody! And thank you all for reading! :D**

 **-TSP**


	7. 6: Arrival

**[EDIT: 11/6/2019]**

* * *

There was knocking on the door.

"Toph! Wake up!" said a female's voice behind the door.

Aang stirred in Toph's bed as he was woken up from his sleep, "What...?" he mumbled. He was on his back, haphazardly splayed onto the bed. He turned around on his side and rests the side of his face on the pillow, taking a deep breath as he inhaled the surprisingly pleasant scent on the pillow.

 _Wow...Toph has a nice scent..._

As he drifted back to sleep, the scent calming him, the knocking continues, "Toph! We have to go, right _now_!"

Aang's eye shot open. "Huh?" he sat up, "K-Katara?" he also felt a tenseness in his...lower half. He looked down quickly and yelped. _'Oh man! Don't go up,_ don't go up! _'_

"Toph? Are you in there?" Katara called out.

He looked back at the door and his eyes widened. _Oh no...ooooh no, I'm in Toph's room!_ he instantly started to panic inside, _What do I do, what do I do!? Wait a minute, what am I even doing here!? I mean, I was here because I wanted to help Toph out, but...oh man, I DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH! What would Katara think!?_

"Toph, are you okay?" Katara sounded worried.

Aang was in a stressful situation, one that he thinks he can't get out of, First things first, he covered his lower half(at least he was wearing pants, although they were loose), and tried to think of a quick escape. _Okay, just think of something. Don't say anything and think._ He looked at the closed balcony that connected in his room. _Alright, if I just quickly open that balcony doors, I can safely air-bend outside and-_

"Toph, I'm coming in!" the sound of the door was opening.

 _...Oh no._

"I-uh-I-uh-!" Aang stuttered.

When Katara entered Toph's room, she stopped in her steps and stared at Aang, wide-eyed at seeing him instead of the earth-bender girl. "Aang!?"

Aang, mouth agape, tried to say something, "Uuuuuh..."

Katara blinked, "What are you...doing in Toph's room?"

"I-I can explain!" Aang said with his hands put in front of him in defense.

* * *

"Aang, we have to leave! Now!" Zuko called out as he knocked on the door of his room.

After a while of no one answering, the Fire Lord tried again, only a little more forceful this time, but once he finished knocking a second time, the door opened to reveal...

Zuko blinked, "Toph?"

"Yep. That's me," Toph mumbled, her hair in a bed head mess as she picked her ear. Momo flew onto her shoulders, chattering away.

"Uh...where's Aang?" Zuko asked her in bewilderment.

"In my room," Toph plainly said as she gave out a yawn.

"Um...why?" Zuko asked, a little perturbed by this development.

"How would you like it if you have two lovebirds going at it next door to your room? Aang just lent me his while he sleeps in mine." Toph explains while she adjusts her neck.

"Oh...um...well then..." Zuko stood there awkwardly but remembers what he was there for. Clearing his head, he said, "Either way, we have to go."

"Go?" Toph raised a brow, "Why so early?"

"I'll explain once we all get dressed. Go get ready."

Toph groaned, "Okay, fine."

* * *

"So...Toph couldn't sleep in her room, so she went to your room to try to get some sleep?" Katara reiterated to Aang, almost incredulous.

"Uh...okay, that didn't sound really plausible when I described it like that, but she came into my room and I offered her my bed-WHICH, uh-which, I-um, she lent me to sleep in her bed in exchange!" Aang nervously explained.

"Um..." Katara didn't look convinced, "Okay, first of all, I can understand why Toph couldn't sleep because of my brother and Suki's _hopefully downplayed..._ roughhousing. But what I _don't_ understand is that why couldn't Toph just go to my room for sleep? And what do you mean by 'in exchange'?"

"Oh..." Aang cringed, "Um, yeah, I, uh...well, on both of those accounts, um..." _Ah man, why did I say 'in exchange'?_

"Coming through," suddenly said Toph with Momo still on her shoulders as she passed Katara, which caught the water-bender and Aang off guard.

"T-Toph!?" Aang stuttered.

"Toph?" Katara said in surprise.

"Aang?" Zuko came into the room, "Aang! Get out of Toph's bed! We need to leave immediately!"

"What? What happened, Zuko?" Aang asked.

"I can't tell you all right now. Just go to your room and get dressed," Zuko advised.

"Why not? You can tell us all now, and we'll fill in the rest with Snoozles and Fan Girl," Toph said with a shrug as she was getting her usual attire out of her sack.

"I..." Zuko's expression looked troubled as he didn't say anything.

"Zuko..." Katara said in concern.

Toph felt a trace of sadness in Zuko's voice and worry in Katara's. Aang felt a little tiny bit jealous, but didn't let it affect him too much as he tried to focus on the task at hand, "What's going on?"

Zuko was silent for a bit... "I got a letter...from my mother."

Toph(who got her clothes ready) and Aang's eyes all widened in shock.

"Your mother?" Aang asked stunned.

"Wait, you got a letter from your _missing_ mother?" Toph asked a little incredulously.

"I know it sounds crazy, but..." Zuko shook his head to clear his thoughts, "No, actually, it is. The letter...didn't sound like my mother, but...it had her handwriting on it."

"Wait a minute, when did you get this letter?" Aang asked him curiously.

"I just got it this morning," Zuko confirmed, "It said...to meet her there in Sairento Hiruzu Island...in Silent Hills."

"Silent Hills?" voiced out Toph, "You mean that island you sent your special task force to?"

"Yeah..." Zuko frowned as he thought about the team of fire-benders that he sent over to the island, "I hope they're okay. They have a messenger hawk with them, so I wonder if someone used that to contact me."

Katara was quiet for a bit, until she said, "Do you think something happened to them?"

"I hope not...I could have sent those men to go out there for no reason, just to be held hostage," Zuko gravely said as he frowned even deeper, dreading the thought.

"Well, what are we waiting for then? It sounded like something went down over there," Toph commented.

"But when did you sent the message, Zuko? You said you sent it around yesterday in the morning, right?" Katara wondered.

"I did...the messenger hawk could've delivered the message somewhere around the beginning of noon, probably around the twelveth hour. They could've gone to the island at night since they can sneak in undetected. So they could've left around nine and arrived at the island around the tenth hour, knowing the distance of the island. It could take an hour and a half to get there, depending on the situation," Zuko theorized, "And the messenger hawk had a long way to fly to arrive here in the Capital from the island, probably five to six hours."

Aang did the math in his head, "Hmm," he looked at Zuko, "What time do you send the hawk over to the base?"

"...Possibly around the seventh hour in the morning." Zuko said as he thought about it, "I mean, that sounds like the right timeframe when the messenger hawk would arrive here if they captured my father, sister, and the prisoners. But...it doesn't explain why and how I got this message from my _mother._ "

Katara lowered her head in thought, "...Something's not right here."

"Well, no duh. And I can't really tell the basis of time," said Toph, "But from what this sounds like, this seems fishy."

"Yeah...it is," Zuko mulled it over a bit, "...This all sounds like a trap."

"I agree," Katara said as she nodded to Zuko, "Besides, what would your mother be doing on this island? How did she even get there?"

"I'm gonna find that out, along with capturing my father, sister, and these prisoners, and as well as helping the team that I sent," Zuko vowed.

Aang got off the bed(once his lower-half has relaxed), and said, "Well, if that's the case, then I'll get ready as soon as possible."

"Me too," Toph agreed, "Which means all of ya get out! I need to change!"

"Oh! Um, sure, Toph!" Aang said as he made his way to the door. Zuko reminded everyone again, "Just to let you all know, we need to leave as soon as twenty minutes is up."

"Got it," Toph said as Katara and Aang nodded to Zuko. However, as soon as Aang, Zuko, and Katara were about to leave the room, Toph called out to Katara, "Hey Sugar Queen! Actually, mind if you help me with something here?"

Katara looked at her oddly, "Help with something? What do you need help with, Toph?"

"You know, private girl stuff," Toph said with a shrug to her shoulders, with Momo still on them.

"Oh...okay," Katara turned to Zuko and Aang.

Zuko looked embarrassed as he stood there, "Um...we'll leave."

Aang rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as well, "Uh, yeah, we'll, uh...go. Come on, Momo."

When Momo heard his master call him, he jumped off of Toph's shoulders and landed on his. Zuko and Aang left the room, Zuko closing the door and leaving Katara and Toph in the latter's temporary room.

Katara turned to Toph, "So, uh...what's wrong, Toph?"

"Before we get into that, and believe me, there is something I need..." Toph's face turned a tad red, "...I need help with...but first, I want to ask you if there is anything going on between you and Zuko?"

Katara's eyes widened at the question, "What? What do you mean?"

"Well, for one thing, your voice is lighter when you talk to him, and your heartbeat gets a little faster when you're near him," Toph clarified.

Katara frowned, "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

Toph rolled her sightless eyes, "Look, just straight up, girl to girl, do you like him? And be honest, you know it's no use lying."

The water-bender blinked, feeling a little hesitant about saying what she thought of Zuko, "W-Well...I mean, I haven't seen him for a good while. All of us haven't even."

"That's true," Toph agreed.

"Yeah...and..." she fidgeted in her stance, "...I guess I can say Zuko is...kind of handsome. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna run off with him or anything. I mean, I'm with Aang, and...I love him..."

Toph raised a brow, "You sound a little hesitant."

Katara groaned, "Look, nothing is going on between me and Zuko. And if you do want me to be honest, then yes, I do think he's very handsome. I mean, Suki even thinks so herself, and she's with Sokka! So it doesn't mean anything that I find him attractive, I'm in a perfectly good relationship..."

"...With Aang?" Toph finished for her.

Katara realized she didn't finish her statement and stuttered, "O-Oh! I mean, yeah, I'm in a good relationship with...Aang..."

The girls stood there, Katara feeling a little uncomfortable, while Toph just analyzed her through vibrations.

"...Are you..." Toph began, "...having second thoughts on being with Aang?"

Surprised at the question, Katara kept quiet for a couple of seconds, keeping her composure in check. When she finally spoke, she said, "Toph...I do love Aang, alright?"

"...But just not in that way?" Toph said softly.

Katara winced, hoping her blind friend didn't felt that as well.

Toph let out a tired sigh, "Okay, look Sugar Queen, let's just hypothetically say you're dating someone else besides Aang, and you're not happy with the relationship and don't feel the same way about this person. If that's the case, then why do you still feel like you need to be with the guy?"

"...Toph, please respect that I don't want to talk about this right now," Katara pleaded.

Toph studied her for a second, her dull eyes looking at her like she's actually staring at her, "...Aang didn't like...hurt you in any way or form, did he?"

Katara's eyes widened in surprise at the question.

"I mean, I know Aang isn't like that at all...I think...I mean, even though I can tell a lie and people's heartbeat, I can't tell what people will act like down the road. Either way, I'm just asking," the small earth-bender said.

Katara shook her head to both clear her head on the idea, and answered, "Toph, of course not! Aang would never do anything to hurt me or anyone else! I mean, he's thirteen, he doesn't know how relationships work or how they even..." she paused, realizing she might've slipped up.

"...You _are_ having second thoughts about Aang, aren't you?" Toph said, almost in pity.

The water-bender stood there in silence, the quiet apparently answering for her...

"...He's still so young. He...has a lot to learn about these things...about relationships," Katara gave out a sigh, "Sometimes, I feel like he's growing up way too fast...too fast for my own liking. And...really, I just want _real_ communication, not the usual cuddling and...kissing," she frowned at that, "I get the feeling that's what he thinks being in a relationship is all about, honestly..." she closed her eyes as she shook her head, "It's more than that...and...he just doesn't have that mindset yet," she opened her eyes and frowned still, "I gave this a shot, I really did. Honestly, I thought this relationship was going to work at some point, but..." she sighs again and puts her fingers on each side of her face, rubbing the stress away, "After all the times I've been with him...I feel like..." she released her face and lets her hands drop to her sides, "I feel like he _has_ grown up quickly...or that he wants to, but...in reality, he still isn't _mature_ enough, you know _?_ Which made me come to realize that...I don't _feel_ that way about him..." she looked strained thinking about it, "...I know this is basically my fault. I led him on, thinking that...I was really interested in him that way. And now...I'm paying for it..." she took a big sigh, "...He thinks we're _really_ together...I don't know if I can go through with this relationship letting him think we are," she gazed at Toph with a pained and desperate look, "Toph...I'm not...shallow, am I?"

Toph kept quiet throughout the whole confession. 'Looking' at the floor, she said, "No, Sugar Queen, you're not shallow," she 'looked' up at her, "Although, you should've told him all of this during the course of those six months."

"I know...it just...it hasn't been easy," Katara said solemnly, "I just don't want to break Aang's heart or hurt him emotionally."

Toph hummed...she then spoke, "Aang still does have a lot to learn."

Lowering her head, Katara agreed with a nod and a hum as well.

The younger earth-bender girl took a breath and sighed deeply, "Look, I'm not gonna tell Aang or anyone else, okay?"

Katara gave her a relieved smile, "Thank you, Toph."

" _But_..." Toph added, "You need to tell him sometime in the future. You shouldn't be in an unhappy relationship because you can't break it to him."

Katara frowned, "I know..."

Toph nodded, "Okay then..." she huffed a breath, "Alright, now onto the other thing."

The dark-skinned girl blinked, "Oh yeah. What is it you need help with, Toph?"

The petite earth-bender scratched the side of her face with her finger as she blushed, "Well...since you're a girl yourself, and I'm also...a girl...I, uh...I need..."

Katara waited patiently, but was also curious as to what she's gonna say, "Yes, Toph?

Toph pursed her lips, her blush growing redder by the second as she went silent for a bit.

Katara looked at her in concern, "Toph? Is everything okay?"

"...Ugh, screw it," Toph then grabbed the hem of her large shirt and began to lift it up.

Shocked at this action, Katara's eyes widened, "T-Toph? What are you-"

"Oh calm down, Sugar Queen, and look at this," Toph said as she lifted the shirt up more and taking it off to reveal...

The water-bender looked surprised as her eyes caught something noticeable on Toph's chest.

"Oh...Toph, are those...?"

"Yep," Toph muttered, "Chest bindings...and..." she blushed, "...boobs, I would think."

"Oh..." Katara blinked at this, "Huh...no wonder you've been wearing baggier clothes recently."

"Yeah..." Toph tossed her shirt aside and turned her back to Katara, "So, I just need you to help me with these bindings, okay? They don't feel secure enough."

"Oh, um...okay," Katara went over and knelt behind Toph as she adjusts the bindings, "So, you did this yourself?"

"Tch, no. Suki helped me out."

"Suki?" Katara asked in surprise.

"Yeah. And upon seeing them, she thought it would be a good opportunity to go 'girl shopping' in Omashu." Toph made a face on that.

"Omashu? You mean, this was recent?" Katara asked with wide eyes, "Why wasn't I told?"

"Cause I told her not to say anything to anyone, of course," Toph replied.

"But...I would've helped you out," Katara said, a little hurt that Toph wouldn't discuss girl stuff with her.

"It's not like I told her, Sugar Queen," Toph said rolling her sightless eyes, "She saw my chest when we were at that spa in Omashu, the one you didn't attend with us cause you were with Twinkletoes at the festivities."

"Oh...right," Katara said, thinking about her time with Aang at one of the game stalls. It was...nice...although Katara kept mothering him all the time, which made it...a little weird. She shook that thought away and briefly thought about her brother winning that meat-eating contest... _Ugh. To this day, I'm not surprised that he won it._

She tightened the bindings and then pinned the strap on the bindings, "Okay, try to twist your waist around in-place and tell me if the bindings are too tight."

Toph did just that as she twists and turned, "Kind of a little tight on the chest area."

"Got it," she readjusted the bindings a bit, all the while continuing saying, "So, when did you start...'blossoming'?"

Toph groaned, "Are we really going through with this?"

"Hey, having breasts mean you've become a woman." Katara paused for a second and said, "Come to think of it, I think you were starting out even when you were twelve."

"Ugh. Yep, we're going through with this."

"Come on, Toph, you're thirteen now. You're going to have some changes in your body sooner or later," Katara went back to loosen her bindings, until she stopped once more, "Oh! Toph, important question, but did you had your...time of the month?"

Toph blushed as her eyes widened, "Oh dear Spirits, Sugar Queen, you had to _remind_ me." she shook her head as she shivered.

"Oh...so, you have?" Katara said curiously.

"Let's just say...I was glad that I wore baggy pants along the course of our journey. And I learned this stuff beforehand from my tutor back at Gaoling to be more prepared for when it happens."

"Oh. Well...if it makes you feel any better, my first cycle was...embarrassing. I'll just leave it at that."

"Oh really?" Toph chuckled, "I got to know, was Snoozles involved?"

Katara chuckled as well, "Oh yes. I think he was panicking the most, thinking I was dying at first."

Toph laughed at that and soon Katara laughed along too. When their laughter died down, Katara tightened the bindings just a tad, "Okay, tell me how it is."

The earth-bender twisted and turned around her waist, "Hmm...it's a little better. Much better actually," she said with a smile back at Katara.

"Great," Katara smiled. Her smile then turned reassuring, "And Toph, just know that what you're experiencing may be a bit of a pain, but it's all perfectly natural."

"Pfft, I know," Toph rolled her unseeing eyes, "But this size is like the beginner's stage when it comes to boobs, right?"

"Well..." Now Katara blushed, "They're...small for normal standards, but for someone who turned thirteen last year, they're...advanced for girls reaching to their teens."

"Really?" Toph blinked, "So...what, I'm bigger than you and Suki or something?"

"Well...Suki's bigger, and...well, I think we're the same size right now..." Katara said, now feeling a little self-conscious all of a sudden.

"We are?" Toph made a face, "Oh man...then...I _am_ advanced, aren't I?" she cringed.

Katara raised an eyebrow, "Well...maybe. I don't really know...why? Are you against that?"

"Uh, yeah!" Toph scowled, "Cause I won't be taken seriously! I'll just be...eye candy to some people."

The water-bender blinked, "Toph, you have a few years down the road to become, uh...eye candy."

"Well, I already don't feel like a girl anymore," Toph crossed her arms in irritation, "I wished I could stay a girl throughout my whole life instead of a turning into a 'woman'."

Katara frowned sympathetically at the small earth-bender, "Well, Toph, life just doesn't work like that. We grow up, whether it be mentally or physically. It's just the way things are."

Taking a deep sigh, Toph mutters, "Yeah...well, whoop-dee-doo on that _,_ huh?"

Smiling sadly, Katara simply said, "Yeah..." She looked down in thought, thinking about how much they've accomplished, how they went to a war and basically stopped it from ever continuing. Now it could happen again, thanks to some...Ozai extremists? She wasn't too sure who broke them out, but from what Zuko said, they seem to come out of nowhere...either way, they went through their own traumas and battles, and each of them had a burden to carry. They had to live through it and grow from their experiences, maturing from kids to adults...

…Have they?

When Katara thought back to Aang, she wondered if he learned anything or grow from his experiences...

"Well," Toph said, interrupting Katara's train of thought, "We might need to get ready for whatever awaits us on this island."

Katara kept her face neutral and nodded, "Yeah..."

They stood there for a couple of seconds until Toph said, "Man, we're too young for this."

"Hmm...I agree," Katara said with a sad frown.

* * *

 _Before Zuko, Katara, Aang, and Toph were all having their discussion..._

* * *

 _This doesn't add up...is Ursa really at Sairento Hiruzu? If she is, then...what is she doing there? Did what I received from the informant was not accurate information?_

Iroh thought about this as he made his way to Suki and Sokka's rooms, truly at a loss.

 _This seems very suspicious. It has to be some sort of trap...however, if it is, they did a very good job of imitating Ursa's handwriting..._ Iroh frowned deeply, _Something is not right._

As Iroh pondered this, he walked up to Suki's room.

Once he is in front of the door, he knocked on it, "Excuse me, Miss Suki? It's me, Iroh. Are you up?"

After a few seconds of silence, the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Suki.

"Hey, Iroh," she said sleepily. She gave out a yawn, covering her mouth, "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry to wake you at this early hour, but as of right now, I think there is a change of plans," Iroh told her.

"Really?" Suki asked, her eyes now wide awake. "What happened?"

"Well...it's a _little_ hard to explain, but...as of now, we have to head to Sairento Hiruzu this instant, so I urge you to get dressed right now for the trip," Iroh said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh...well, okay," Suki nodded, "Thank you Iroh for telling me. Have the others known about this?"

"Zuko and Katara are telling Aang and Toph right now at this moment. I'm about to tell Sokka in a little bit after I informed you."

Iroh noticed that Suki winced when he mentioned her boyfriend's name.

"Oh, okay...thank you again, Iroh," Suki said with a smile and a nod.

"Sure thing," Iroh smiled as well and turned to leave. As soon as he was almost at Sokka's door, however, Suki called out, "Hey, um, Iroh?"

Iroh turned to face Suki, "Yes, Suki?"

"I, uh..." Suki looked embarrassed for a moment, but took a deep sigh, "Can I...talk to you about something?"

The old fire-bender looked concern, "Is something the matter?"

"...I'll wake up Sokka. But first, I...need to ask you something that requires...a grown male's perspective," Suki said.

Iroh blinked at that, "Oh...okay...do you want to talk about it in private?"

Suki blushed, "Yes, I think that would be good."

"Alright then..." Iroh walked over to Suki and entered her room, the warrior girl closing the door behind him. He began to ask, "Is everything okay, Suki?"

Suki stood there looking bothered, rubbing her arm until she said, "Have you...ever rushed someone into doing something that you're not comfortable doing yet, and wanted to wait until...like say...later down the road?"

The surprise was evident in Iroh's eyes. "Oh...is...this about you and Sokka?"

Lowering her head, a blush formed on Suki's face as she said, "Well..." she sighed, "It is."

"Hmm...I'm guessing you and Sokka are trying to be...intimate?" Iroh asked cautiously.

"Well...even _more_ intimate than usual," Suki explained.

Iroh's eyes widened at that.

"It was Sokka's idea!" she quickly said, "I mean...he asked me if I wanted to...you know...'do it' and I said no. I told him I wanted to wait...that we were basically still kids and that I wasn't exactly...ready."

"Oh..." Iroh nodded in understanding, "I see...well...did he act respectfully to you when you declined?"

"Oh, of course!" Suki nodded with a smile, "He completely understood!" her smile faded, however, "Although...he did sound a little disappointed about not...'doing it'," she shook her head, "Either way, I just want to know and make sure, in your perspective...that what Sokka is going through is just a phase, right? Like every guy goes through this once in a while, right?"

The retired General smiled warmly at the young girl, "I think I know what this is about."

Suki blinked, "You do?"

Iroh chuckled, "Well, if I'm wrong, I'm wrong, so you can tell me if I'm right or not. But what I'm getting at, is that you don't want Sokka to see you as...well, a 'stress reliever'."

The Kyoshi warrior looked surprised, "Yes...that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Oh good! That would've been awkward if I was wrong," Iroh smiled sheepishly. He looked at her with warm reassurance, "Suki, Sokka is becoming a man, and he'll have urges every once in a while. But that doesn't mean he views you as...well, an object, I'll just say. From what I saw at the dinner table, he tries to make you happy. Like for instance, he pulled your chair out for you. He also makes you laugh, which I noticed, makes him smile every time you do. And most of all, you feed him vegetables, which he gladly devours! And I have seen the boy's plate of food, he's a meat eater."

Suki chuckled as she smiled, "Yeah...it took a lot of courage for him to try that spinach roll."

Chuckling as well, Iroh said, "Do not worry, Suki. Sokka really does love you, and I would think he was just trying to express that by...you know, doing 'that' with you," his face became serious, "But you made the right call. You are too young to be too intimate with one another. It's best if you wait for these kinds of things until marriage."

"Marriage?" Suki said with a blush. She looked timid, "I mean...I would like that down the road..."

Iroh nodded, "Then do tell him that. If it ever does come up again, just try to tell him the same thing you told him. I'm sure he will be respectful about it."

Suki smiled warmly at the retired General, "Thanks, Iroh."

"Oh of course! If you kids need any help with any type of problem, you can all come to me!" Iroh said with a kind smile.

"We certainly will," Suki smiled brightly, "Well, I'll get dressed then. Thanks again, Iroh."

"It's no problem," Iroh said with a nod and warm smile.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zuko and Aang(with Momo resting on his shoulders) were walking up to where Sokka and Suki's rooms are. As they kept walking, Zuko then said, "So...you lend Toph your room?"

Aang stopped in his tracks as he winced, "I mean...yeah?"

Zuko stopped in his tracks too as he said, "That was...all you did, right?"

"Huh?" Aang said questionably, "What do you mean?"

"I mean...well, you and Toph didn't like...get curious, and...you know..."

Aang looked at him strangely, until after a moment, his eyes widened, realizing what he meant, "WHAT?" he exclaimed, spooking Momo which made him scurry off of his shoulders and go off into a direction, "N-No! W-We haven't! I-I mean, why would you say that? I-I'm with K-Katara!"

Zuko raised his hands to calm him down, "Okay, okay, Aang, settle down. I was just wondering..."

"Uh, y-yeah, o-okay..." Aang stuttered.

They stood there for a couple of seconds in awkward silence.

"...How, um...how are you and Katara, anyway?" Zuko decided to ask.

"Oh, uh, we're, um...we're really good! In fact, we, um, went to the Spring Festival in Omashu and we had a lot of fun at the festivities!"

"Oh, okay...uh, good," Zuko said with a somewhat forced smile.

"Yep! We're perfectly happy and we love each other! Just like a couple should act, honestly!" Aang said with confidence.

Zuko's smile almost twitched downward, "That's...great."

Aang didn't notice the hesitation in Zuko's voice, thankfully, "Yeah! Nothing can keep us apart!" he stood there for a second, "So, yeah, let's go wake up Sokka."

"Uh, right," Zuko said, a little uneasy as he followed Aang.

As soon as they arrived at Sokka's door, Aang knocked on it.

"Hey, Sokka! Wake up!" called out Aang, Momo going back to his shoulders when things calmed down, "We got to go early! Zuko said it's pretty urgent!"

They waited a bit until Sokka opened his door looking tired-eyed, "What? We're going now?"

"Yes, Sokka. We have to go," Zuko told him, "Something has probably happened to the men that I sent."

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Sokka wondered, his eyes shot awake when hearing that info.

"I received a letter..." Zuko didn't say anything after that, looking unsure.

"It was from his mom," Aang spoke up.

Shocked, Sokka said to Zuko, "Really? Wait, but...isn't your mother missing? And...what does this have to do with the men you sent?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Zuko said in determination, "Someone sent a letter to me in the form of my mother's handwriting, and it was from the team I sent. So you need to get ready, Sokka. We leave as of right now to Sairento Hiruzu Island."

"O-Okay, okay, just give me a moment here. I had a rough night sleeping." Sokka said, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh yeah, what happened?" Aang asked.

Sokka looked at Aang strangely, "What happened? What do you mean?"

"You...oh..." Aang blinked and blushed. He laughed weakly as he scratched the back of his head, "N-Nothing! I just, uh...I'll get dressed!" and with that, Aang dashed off to his room with Momo latching onto him, leaving Zuko and Sokka alone.

Zuko turned to Sokka, and said, "Well, I just came to inform you. Get ready as we need to leave in twenty minutes."

"Uh...yeah," Sokka said, apparently in thought.

Raising an eyebrow, Zuko asked, "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm just..." Sokka sighed, "Actually, I need to ask you something. And I know, I'm on a time schedule, but this will be quick. I just need to know something."

"Uh...okay," Zuko looked uneasy, wondering what Sokka was gonna ask.

"Okay..." Sokka took a deep breath and said, "Now...when a woman says that...they want to _wait_...that doesn't mean, like...she doesn't want to do anything with...that person, right?"

Zuko's eyes widened as he made a face. "Uh...is this about you and Suki?"

Sokka groaned, "Look man, guy to guy here, alright? I asked Suki if she...well...if she wants to..." he rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed.

Zuko blinked, "Wait...did you asked her to...'do it' with you?"

Sokka cringed, "Uh...let's go with that."

...Zuko groaned, "Sokka, you're asking _me_ about this?"

"Well, hey, I can't ask Aang. I mean, he's doesn't have that mindset yet...which he better not be thinking about that in his age with my sister." Sokka muttered as he looked away to the side.

Blinking once more at that comment, Zuko just had a realization.

 _Wait...that couldn't be what Katara was gonna say in the office...was it?_

"Anyways," Sokka spoke up again, getting Zuko's attention, "I could ask Iroh, but he's like...an old guy or something, it just feels awkward. So...you came here, and I decided to ask you."

Zuko sighed, "You really didn't do it, did you?"

"No, Suki declined, and I respected that. It's just...I want to know if...she...wasn't like rejecting me or anything."

"Well...she could be old fashioned."

"Yeah, I know, and that could be it. I just...well, I just want to know...I mean, I just don't want to think...she _doesn't_ _want_ _to_ , you know?"

Zuko looked at him in sympathy, "Look, Sokka, I don't really know the whole story about what happened, but you have to respect her wishes if that's the case."

"Hey, I am! I am so totally respecting her wishes!" Sokka defended himself. "I just...want to make sure nothing is wrong with me."

"Sokka, there's plenty of things wrong with you."

"Hey!"

"But, Suki loves you the way you are. She likes being with you for one thing. And you seem to treat her really nice. She even laughs at your corny jokes."

"Hey, those jokes are very well crafted!"

Rolling his eyes, Zuko said, "But you get the idea, right? I would say she really does love you."

Sokka pouted but contemplates what Zuko said. "Hmm...yeah...and I love her too..."

Zuko nodded, "Okay then...so, is everything alright now?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, in a way."

"Good," Zuko looked awkward for a moment and said, "Don't worry about it, okay Sokka?"

The Water Tribe boy smiled, "Thanks, Zuko. I know you're not comfortable with this type of stuff, but it really makes me feel better to know that ya care."

"Uh, no problem," Zuko said with a shrug, looking uncomfortable.

Sokka snickered, "Okay, enough of this sensitive stuff. I'll get ready, and we'll see what's up on this island. Thanks again, buddy." the dark-skinned boy was about to close the door, until he stopped and said, "Oh, and...we'll find your mother someday. Who knows? Maybe she might be on this island..." now Sokka felt awkward all of a sudden, "Just...don't lose hope, okay?"

Zuko smiled back at the young man, "I won't...thanks, Sokka."

"No prob," Sokka smiled back, "Well, I'm getting ready. See ya then!" and with that, he closed the door.

As soon as he did, Zuko stood there for a second and sighed. "Right..."

He heard another door opening and turned around to see that Iroh was exiting Suki's room. The older man saw Zuko and smiled, "Oh, Zuko. Are you about to tell Sokka?"

"Um, I just did," the Fire Lord looked at Iroh oddly, "Did you tell Suki?"

"That I did, along with reassuring her some things," Iroh said with a nod.

"Oh," Zuko can guess what it's about but chose not to bring it up, "Okay. Well, Aang, as well as the rest of the team and I, need to get ready to go to this island."

"Actually, do you have room for one more?" Iroh said in a serious tone.

Zuko's eyes widened in shock, "Really? You want to go?"

Iroh nodded. "Something doesn't feel right about all this."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Zuko muttered to himself. He then told his uncle, "Uncle, are you sure?"

"There might be other hostile people on this island besides the prisoners, your father, and your sister. You could need all the help you can get," Iroh told him.

"...I don't know, Uncle. This could be a dangerous mission."

"Oh come now! I was once a General, I should be used to dangerous missions by now," Iroh jested.

"Yeah, but..." Zuko words died there.

"Zuko, I can take care of myself, as I know you can take care of yourself. Let me accompany you like old times, Nephew." Iroh said with a smile. His smile turned into a grim frown, however, "I do want to know if your mother is there as well."

Zuko said nothing for a bit, until he sighed, "Okay, Uncle. You can come with us. But who's gonna look after the nation while I'm gone?"

"Hmm...good question," Iroh muttered, thinking about it, "...Well, how about that Hari fellow?" Iroh suggested.

"Hari?" Zuko said in surprise.

"Yes, he seems devoted to you. Maybe you can tell him to look after things before you go?"

Zuko thought about it, "...I do trust him...and he does have some experience around the Palace and some of the politics. Plus, he's been reliable...I might as well." he confirmed with a nod.

"Then it's settled!" Iroh said with a smile, "Now, as you said, we don't have time to squander, so we all have to be prepared for this trip. Right now, you can tell Hari about looking over things from here and bring anything that you think you might need to accompany you."

Chuckling, the teenage Fire Lord nodded and says, "Right..."

"Well then, let's get to it!" Iroh said, a little jovially.

As soon as they went off to their respected directions, they both have different thoughts.

 _I hope things won't go from bad to worse on this mission._ Zuko thought to himself grimly.

 _Something is amiss from all this...whatever it may be, you have to be strong, Zuko._ Iroh thought gravely.

* * *

Before getting ready to go to the island, Zuko told Hari to look after the Palace while he, his friends, and his Uncle are gone. Hari was shocked, not knowing if he can fulfill this request, but Zuko told him that he believes in him and that he and everyone else won't be gone for long. After much convincing, Hari agreed to look after things while the young Fire Lord is gone.

As soon as they all got ready and have a quick breakfast, they've, including Momo and Iroh(which came as a nice surprise from all of them), all boarded onto Appa. The air-bison took off and flew over countless Fire Nation villages and islands, while the Gaang and Iroh all converse one another. Sokka and Suki, from Zuko and Iroh's standpoint, looked as if nothing was ever quarreled between them, happily talking to each other and giving each other affection. Toph and Iroh talked along the way as well, with Momo resting alongside Toph's shoulders. Katara checked up on everyone after a while, talking to Aang, Toph, Sokka, Suki, Iroh, and even Zuko.

Speaking of Zuko, while they stopped to get a snack(Sokka's idea, obviously) in a village somewhere in the southern part of the Fire Nation, he could see that Aang is being closer to Katara. There was even a point where Aang was trying to hold onto her hand whenever he had the chance, only for Katara to slip out of his range when he was close. Nobody noticed except Zuko, and maybe Toph and Iroh, but he was seeing that the lack of physical contact was making Aang feel and look...downhearted and crestfallen. It started to make Zuko feel bad for him...

He needs to talk to Katara alone and wonder what it is that's making her rethink her relationship with Aang. Granted, he understands her dilemma, but he needs to know the whole story. Maybe when they reach this island, they'll have time to talk about it.

* * *

 **11:00** **AM**

* * *

They were almost there.

Flying for almost seven hours(actually, it was almost eight hours, if you count the stop), they're above the ocean, where their route to Sairento Hiruzu Island is coming up.

"How much longer?" whined Sokka.

"Sokka, if you say that one more time, so help me-" Katara began to rant until Iroh interrupted her by saying, "Now, now, there is no need for another quarrel."

"Yeah, honestly, if I have to hear Snoozles' whining and Sugar Queen's complaining one more time, I might as well go deaf while I'm at it," Toph remarked in annoyance.

"I think we're getting close," Aang told them upon Appa's head, his air-bending staff equipped on his back. "What do you think, Iroh, Zuko?"

"I think so. Again, this is the first time I've been there," Zuko replied.

"It looks like we could be close," Iroh said as he squinted up at the sky, "Hmm...it also looks like things are getting a little cloudy."

"Well, we should all prepare ourselves when we get there. We don't know what we might be up against," Suki advised everyone as she readied her metal fans.

"Good call, Suki," replied Sokka as he readied his 'space sword'.

Katara gathered the water from the ocean and put it all in her canteen, securing it, while Zuko has his Dao swords equipped on his back. They all sat in quiet for when they reach the island...

Before long, Aang, with Momo on his shoulders, spotted something out in the distance.

"Hey...I think I see it!" Aang called out to them.

In the distance, there was a large stretched mass of land that appeared before them. On the land, there were miles among miles of beach-shore, and there were two large mound-like mountain hills that came into view. One other large mound-like mountain hill was in the background far off in the back of the island, making all three hills form into a triangle. Covering the whole island, including the mountain hills, were forest trees that spread its greenery like a blanket...but also covering the island and hills was a thick layer of fog.

"That could be it," Sokka said, stating the obvious.

"So that's Sairento Hiruzu..." Zuko said as he looked on at the island.

"It certainly does look quite majestic," Iroh commented.

"It looks kind of...mysterious," Katara said, throwing out her first impression.

"Wow. That's a lot of fog," Suki commented, "So there's a town there on this island?"

"There is. The town is called Silent Hills," Iroh said.

"Huh. Fitting," Sokka said in mild interest, "Really though, this is the island? Like Suki said, there's too much fog over there. How can this be a resort town if it doesn't look all...resorty?"

"Gee, I wish I know what it is you're all looking at," Toph dryly said in sarcasm.

"You're not missing much," Katara muttered to Toph.

Aang squinted at the island ahead, "It doesn't really yell 'fun' at first sight," He then looked up at the sky and saw that the sky was getting grayer and grayer, as more clouds were covering the sky and sun, "Huh...that's strange. It's getting cloudier than usual..."

Iroh seems to take notice of this too, "My, it certainly is. Wasn't it sunny an hour ago?"

"Aww man, don't tell me we're gonna get rain on now, of _all_ times?" Sokka moaned.

"It looks like it," Katara said as she looked up at the clouds.

"Well, either way, we need to get there fast." remarked Aang, "Yip-yip, Appa!" he snapped the air-bison's reins, letting Appa go towards the island.

After five minutes have passed and they were about three minutes away to the shore of the island, Zuko spoke up and pointed, "Hey, I can see an airship!"

They all looked at where Zuko pointed and saw in plain sight an airship belonging to the Fire Nation. It was on the beach-shore line, seemingly sitting there unattended.

Momo, who was resting on Aang's shoulders, slowly let his eyes open as he set his vision on the island...it was then his eyes shot wide open.

Appa was also fidgeting a little bit as he got closer to the beach.

"Whoa, everything okay, Appa?" Aang asked his animal buddy.

Then all of a sudden, Momo screeched in Aang's ear.

"AH!" Aang exclaimed, "Momo, what's up!?"

Momo swung his body on Aang's right shoulder and started chattering to him. Meanwhile, Appa began fidgeting a lot more and was slowing down.

"Whoa, Appa, what's wrong, boy?" Aang asked again.

"Aang? What's going on?" Katara asked him worriedly.

"Uh, why are we slowing down?" Sokka asked a little anxiously.

"Um, Twinkles? What's up with Hairball and Furball?" Toph asked him a little uneasily.

"I don't know. Appa and Momo are acting really strange," Aang said as he tried to control Appa. Momo then hung onto his arm and began pulling on his long sleeve, "Momo, what's gotten into you?"

Then, Appa was actually starting to turn away from the island.

"Huh? Appa, what are you doing? We're going that way," Aang reasoned with the air-bison.

"Uh, Aang? Is something wrong with Appa?" Zuko asked in confusion.

"I think Appa is turning back," Aang said as he led Appa to the island, but to no avail. "Appa, no! _That way_!"

Appa snorted and moaned as he turned completely around.

"Appa, no! Why are you going the other way!? Down, boy, _down_!" Aang ordered Appa.

And that was what Appa did as he landed on the ocean's surface, spraying water up and in different directions.

"WHOA!" exclaimed Aang and the rest of the Gaang and Iroh. Momo, who was still holding onto Aang, got off of him and flew over to Toph once more as he started chattering to Toph.

"Ack! Yo, Furball, what's up with you?" Toph asked the critter.

"Is everyone okay?" Iroh head-counted the passengers on board Appa.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Katara.

"I'm good." Suki.

"Ditto." Toph.

"Me too." Zuko.

"Aang, why did Appa started acting all crazy!?" Sokka asked rather frantically.

"I...really don't know. He never acted like this before. I don't think Momo normally acts like this either," says Aang. He looks down at Appa, "What's wrong, Buddy?"

Appa groaned as he stayed there.

"Well, what did he say?" Sokka said dryly.

Aang shook his head, "I don't get it...you don't want to go to the island?"

Appa groaned again in reply.

"I'm guessing that's a 'yes'," Toph muttered, with Momo on her left shoulder.

"Appa, we have to go to the island. Come on, boy, yip-yip!" Aang said as he snapped his reins.

But Appa just stayed there with a groan.

"Appa!" Aang frowned.

* * *

It's been two minutes and Appa didn't budge.

"Aang, what's going on with Appa?" Zuko asked him.

"I don't know! He's just being stubborn for some reason. Appa, come on, boy!" Aang said exasperatedly.

Appa groaned in reply.

"Uuuugh!" Aang then gave up, "What are we gonna do? We're almost right there near the shore!

"Hmm..." Iroh hummed as he stroked his beard, "Something isn't right here..."

"Yeah," Toph said, "Didn't somebody say that animals can sense danger or something like that?"

"Appa is just being a big baby for some reason..." Aang pouted, clearly disappointed in his air-bison.

"Well, we can't just float here. We need to get to the island as fast as we can," Zuko remarked.

Katara looked at the ocean for a moment and began to have an idea, "Hold on..." she then stood up and threw her hands out as she began to freeze the water, creating an icy platform.

"Okay then. Everyone get on!" Katara then slid off of Appa and landed on the ice platform.

"What the!? Katara, are you crazy!? What do you think you're doing!?" Sokka exclaimed at her in shock.

As soon as she got her footing on the ice platform, she turned to her brother, "If Appa can't get us over there, then I can use the water to move this ice platform over to the island!"

"Are you sure?" asked Zuko, "It could take probably fifteen minutes for you to lug us all over to the island."

Katara raised a brow and put her hands on her hips, "I'll have you know, that I have a lot of stamina when it comes to propelling an ice platform to another area. For me, I bet it would last only three minutes."

"Well, I don't doubt you. You are an excellent water-bender," Iroh said with a smile.

"I didn't say I doubted her, I just didn't want her to stress herself out from moving the water so much," Zuko said in defense.

"Well thank you, Zuko, that's very kind of you," she said with a smirk, "But you shouldn't worry, I can handle this type of effort."

Zuko let his eyes look from the left as he rubbed the back of his head and said, "Okay..."

Aang frowned at that exchange.

"You know, we might as well go with the ice platform at this point," advised Suki, "Appa's not moving any further, so we should try the next best thing."

"Well, I guess if it gets us there faster, then we probably should," Toph said as she patted Iroh, "Carry me over there, will ya Pops?"

Iroh chuckled, "Why sure, Lady Toph!"

Sokka groaned at this predicament, "Oh man..."

"Oh, quit complaining, Sokka, and just get on the ice platform! The sooner you get on here, the faster we'll get to the island!" Katara argued.

"You might as well Sokka," Suki told him, "It could rain on us anytime."

Sokka groaned louder this time, but relented, "Okay, _okay_. Just don't make it into a bumpy ride."

Katara rolled her eyes and directed them at Aang, "Come on Aang, you're gonna have to leave Appa for a while."

Aang felt kind of torn of leaving his air-bison out here in the ocean or going off to help his friends. Of course, his duty won out in the end as he sighed and told Appa, "Sorry, Buddy. You gonna have to stay here for a while I guess."

Momo then got off of Toph's shoulder and went to Aang, chattering to him nonstop. Aang blinked at Momo, "I don't know what's gotten into you, either...I'm guessing you want to stay here too?"

Momo chattered and gave him a nod.

"Um...okay...but you guys will come to us when we get everyone, right?" Aang asked hopefully.

Appa and Momo each groaned and chattered. If Aang had to guess, they were saying 'yes'.

"Okay then...well, you two behave while we're gone, okay?" Aang told them.

And so, with his air-bending staff on his back, Aang and everyone else got on the ice platform.

* * *

After exactly three minutes, they've arrived at the beach-shoreline.

"Wow, Katara! You really improved!" Suki said in amazement, "And I gotta say, that was fun!"

"Yeah..." Zuko said stunned, eyes widened as he wobbled over to the sand.

"Uuugh..." Sokka moaned as he wobbled over to the sand as well, "You see, Zuko? I have a crazy sister too." he said next to the Fire Lord.

 _WHAP!_

"OW! My butt!" Sokka exclaimed.

Katara, retracting the water whip and sending it back to the ocean, gave out a 'hmph!'.

"Hoo boy, thank goodness I hung onto you, Iroh," Toph said as she hopped of Iroh's back and landed on the sand. "Aaaah...even though it's sand, it's still good ol' earth!"

Iroh chuckled, "It was quite exhilarating."

Aang was the last one who jumped off the platform, "Alright...here we are."

As they all got their bearings, they looked around the beach shore to get a glimpse of their surroundings.

...It seemed they were all surrounded by fog.

"Man, what is up with this fog?" Sokka said looking around.

"Who would want to have a vacation here?" Katara asked herself as she squinted through the fog that's encasing the trees.

"Wow...this place almost seems kind of...eerie," Suki said uneasily, adjusting her Kyoshi Warrior getup.

"Well lucky for you guys, I can't see what you're seeing...wait a minute..."

"What is it, Toph?" Aang asked.

"Shh..." Toph hushed, "Everyone, be quiet."

"What's going on?" Zuko softly asked.

"Quiet, Sparky!" Toph hissed and they all stood silent for a moment... "...I don't hear anything."

Sokka gave her a dry look, "Really? Is that your way of delivering a joke?"

"No, Snoozles!" Toph hissed irritably, "Usually, on an island, we get at least some sound of animal life...but, I'm not hearing any of it."

"You're not?" Aang questioned.

"Well...maybe we're not near any animal habitats?" Katara tried to reason.

"Well, what I mean by no animals, I mean...like, no insects either," Toph elaborated.

"What? Really?" Zuko said in bafflement.

"Yeah...I mean, I don't know for certain, we haven't really trekked anywhere near that's far, and we're on the sand right now, but so far besides you all and the ocean waves, I'm hearing...nothing," Toph confirmed.

Everyone took a moment to let that sink in...

"...That is most troublesome." Iroh stated.

"What? Aw come on, so it's a little quiet here. That's actually relaxing. I mean, it's called Silent Hills for a reason, right?" Sokka rationalized.

"I don't know..." Katara said, feeling a little troubled by it, "That's kind of creepy to know that nothing can be heard on a big island like this."

"Yeah..." Zuko contemplates this, "...Well, either way, we're here. And so is my father, Azula, the prisoners, and anyone else who lives on this island, as well as the task force I sent. We got to move forward on finding them."

"That's right," Iroh turned serious, "We must not let my brother go back into power. From this point forward, we have a mission to fulfill."

"Then we should all get going," Aang said as he turned serious as well. He looked around the foggy area, "We might need to use our fire-bending to lead ourselves in the fog."

"Good idea," Zuko said as he conjured up a flame in his hand, along with Iroh. Aang conjured up a flame as well, the three of their flames lighting up the fog.

"We'll check on the airship just in case," Zuko stated as he went to the airship that was a little ahead from them.

They all followed him, and when they got to the airship, the hangar door was opened. As they looked inside, it was all empty and devoid of any soldiers, including the messenger hawk that Zuko received back at the Palace.

"Nothing," Zuko said softly.

"Well, we probably should head to the forest..." Katara turned to the trees that beckon them to enter.

They stood there for a bit, wondering what awaits them inside the forest...

"Let's just hope there's no bad malevolent spirit in there," Sokka joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Sokka, now's not the time to joke," Suki said with a dull look.

Zuko sighed, "Let's just go..."

And that's what they did. They advanced forward as they entered the woods...

As they walked by and passed the trees, Katara noticed something...

"...It's not raining," she whispered to herself.

"Huh?" Aang uttered, who was beside her.

Katara shook her head, "Nothing."

Aang looked confused, but said, "Okay..."

Meanwhile, as he walked, Zuko looked around the forest as he glanced at trees upon trees...

 _...Is the fog getting thicker?_ Zuko thought in slight dread.

They kept walking...and walking...

...Walking towards the town...

...the town of Silent Hills.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 6**

* * *

 **OKAY, SO TECHNICALLY, THEY DON'T ARRIVE IN THE TOWN, THEY ARRIVE ON THE ISLAND FIRST. XP**

 **But hey, next chapter will be when we get to Silent Hill! So prepare yourselves for some creepy stuff, everyone! ;)**

 **Until then, tell me how I did! You know the drill; fave, follow and review!** **Thank you all for reading, and keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	8. 7: Comfort

**[EDIT: 12/18/2019]**

* * *

 **6:00 AM - The Day Everyone Rises**

* * *

Ozai awoke to the cool wind touching his face. Stretching, he let out a small groan as his joints cracked in unison as he reluctantly sat up from a comfortable bed for the first time in months. Looking over the window, it seemed to be...morning?

He must've slept longer than he thought.

"Hm…interesting," Ozai murmured.

' _I must have slept through the whole evening and early morning.'_ He began to rub the sleep away from his face. ' _I do have to admit though, the rest was actually quite pleasant.'_

"Dear?"

His hand dropped and his eyes widened instantly as he whipped his head towards the sound, his fists raised into a fighting stance out of years of training. Calmly but frantically, his eyes scanned the room for any intruders, but found none.

After what seemed like a minute of tense silence, his muscles finally relaxed, and he could feel his heartbeat beginning to slow down back to its normal pace.

' _What in the name of Agni was that?'_ He wondered, letting out a frown. ' _It better not be any pranksters, otherwise whatever mercy I am giving will quickly wear out.'_

Letting out a sigh, he got up from his bed and began to get dressed for the day. Despite the rush being over, he still couldn't help but feel like something was still off-

His eyes widened again as he finally remembered why the voice sounded so familiar.

"...Ursa...is that you?"

Silence answered his question.

* * *

Azula woke up ten minutes after her father. She got up with a groan as well, feeling well-rested like everyone else. Looking over at the window, she saw that there is still light outside, albeit a little dim.

Raising a brow, she thought, ' _It's still daytime? ...No, my slumber felt much longer than that. It must be morning.'_

Getting up from her bed, she began to do her morning stretches in her prison garb, having slept in them. She then walked over to grab the key on her counter, before walking out of her room. As she walked down the hallway and to the stairs that lead to the main lobby, she spotted Jemusu walking towards the stairs as well. The man saw Azula, and smiled as he waved at her.

Azula rolled her eyes and kept going down the stairs.

Jemusu frowned and sighed.

"Yeesh, Princess Snobby can't even say 'Hi'." Someone muttered out of Azula's earshot.

Jemusu turned to look at the newcomer. "Oh, hey Edi."

"Hey yourself." Edi said with a small yawn. "Man, I slept like a sloth-bear."

Just then, another door opened, and Meira passed by them without a word, her head hung a little low.

"Oh, hey Meira." Jemusu greeted.

"Uh...hey." Edi said a little awkwardly.

Meira looked at both of them. "H-Hey." And with that, she quickly walked down the stairs.

Seeing her weird interaction, Jemusu turned to Edi, who in turn, winced like he'd been slapped. Jemusu realized that since the events from yesterday, they were still on delicate terms with each other.

Seeing Edi's look of shame, he gave him a weak pat on the shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it, okay?"

"...Yeah. Still feel kind of bad about it though." Edi mumbled.

And with that, they left it as it is, and went downstairs, with Anjera shortly following after them.

* * *

Ozai and his group of followers sat at the same table. It was quite odd and humbling for both sides to have the (former) Phoenix King and Fire Lady sit at the table with them, although they quickly realized that the former royals didn't see it the same way. Jemusu theorized that the only reason why they sat with them was because, one it would've been awkward to actively move to another table, and two, because for some inexplicable reason, they all felt better when they were huddled together like a school of fish.

At least that's how Jemusu felt anyways. He's been on this island for only half a day, and already the place gave him the spooks.

Azula noticed that Jemusu was looking at them, and one nasty look sent his eyes back onto his plate, praying that she wouldn't cause a scene. To his surprise, she said nothing else, and resumed eating.

"Wow, whoever made breakfast did great!" Edi complimented as he devoured his scrambled eggs.

"Hm…" Meira hummed, eating a piece of fruit.

Anjera, however, was thinking about something. "...Who made our food?"

Jemusu blinked at that. "Hey, yeah...this just appeared on the table when we came down here…"

"Maybe these people who got us out of prison made it. Tell ya what, they can cook!" Edi said as he happily took a bite of his pastry.

Azula rolled her eyes again. "I don't care, so as long as we have a proper meal." She turned to look at her father, only to find him looking lost in thought. This threw Azula off guard, since while as the leader of the Fire Nation, he did have to do a lot of thinking, he never put his guard down, but now? Azula could strike him down where he stood, and he would die before he realized what she did.

Azula shook her head. Why in the name of Agni did she suddenly think about doing that? Silently scolding herself for her treacherous thoughts, she called for her father.

* * *

Despite his best efforts to enjoy his breakfast, the morning incident still haunted him. Ozai wondered if he was finally losing his sanity. Was it the loss of his bending that was getting to him? Was it his time in prison? Or could it be this dreadful island, which was miserable in every ways, and yes, just as unsettling as well?

"-ther? Father?"

Ozai blinked, and he realized that his daughter was trying to say something to him.

"Father, are you alright?"

This was, admittedly, rather embarrassing, and not to mention unfitting for the Phoenix King. Clearing his throat, he looked at his daughter as if nothing has happened.

"I am alright, Azula. I merely had some… concerns. Nothing to worry about it."

Azula looked at her father for just a moment with slight concern in her eyes, but said nothing of it. She learned many years ago to never question his actions or words, and to follow them obediently, else they end up like Zuko...or worse.

 _Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink._

Everyone turned their head towards the sound of heeled shoes walking towards them, and paused, stunned at what they saw. The kitchen doors were swung open to reveal a fair-skinned lady* with beautiful, raven-black hair that almost seemed to glow in the dimly lit dining room. She wore an elegant dress, which was woven together by the finest of cotton and silk, it's blue, white, and brown painted on it. Despite her beautiful outfit, they could tell that she was a maid, which was made evident by the tray she held behind her hands, which she clasped together on her corset-bound stomach.

However, her beauty wasn't the only thing that grabbed their attention. What really grabbed their attention was her feet-or rather, the lack thereof

When they finally looked down at them, they realized that there wasn't a single spot of flesh in it. Instead, what they saw where metal, feminine feet, which were shaped to look like heeled shoes, but with the least amount of metal used as possible, resembling prosthetics.

"We do hope that you enjoyed your breakfast." Her soft, gentle voice ripped them away from their thoughts. "Were they to your satisfaction?"

"Uh-um, yes!" Edi finally said. "It was very delicious, ma'am!"

The woman's eyes then traveled to Edi's, and he flinched under her gaze. To his surprise, she merely smiled, and let out a cheerful chuckle.

"We are glad that you liked it! If you desire more, please just ask. If you are done, then please do check out what the rest of Silent Hills has to offer, and have a wonderful day!"

She then gave them a rather deep bow, which leads to what was arguably the weirdest thing they've seen so far. On the back of her head was what looked like a golden wind-up key, which was commonly used in their childhood toys. It protruded out of her intricately tied bun, which seemed to be pinned together with a gear-like clip. In the few seconds in which the lady gave them a bow, it further revealed that the windup key was jammed into her head, which creaked as it turned by itself.

The lady gave them another warm smile, before she spun around and left, her metal feet clunking on the hard, wooden floor.

They sat there for a while, unsure of what to make at what they saw.

Azula raised a brow. "That was...bizarre."

Ozai looked at the spot where the woman once was and muttered to himself, "Maybe that was the sixth member…"

The former Fire Lady heard her father as she glanced back at him with a puzzled look. ' _Member? What does he mean by that?'_

"Well, at least we have some faculty here…" Meira said as she went back to eating her breakfast.

Azula, however, sat there staring at her meal.

' _...She looked familiar…'_ The former Fire Lady then shook her head. Something about the lady made her head (and her heart) hurt, so she didn't want to think about her. She then continued to eat her breakfast.

Unbeknownst to Azula, Ozai was wondering about the same person.

' _She looked...oddly familiar.'_ Ozai contemplated as he ate his meal. His eye kept on flicking back to the maid, who was silently standing near the kitchen, staring at the new member of Silent Hills. Her key continued to turn from behind her head as she hummed a song.

* * *

 **7:00 AM**

* * *

After the strange, yet hearty breakfast, they decided to go their separate ways. Of course, they made sure to not wander too far from each other, since they still had no idea what to expect from these people, but at the same time, everyone either wanted to enjoy the fresh air, or they just wanted to stretch their legs. Ozai went out as he simply told Azula that he's "going out" for a while. Jemusu and Edi decided to have a walk around the town to check out what the town has to offer.

"You know," Jemusu said as he walked outside. "I bet this would be a nice town without the fog."

"Yeah," Edi muttered. "And maybe without the absence of people."

"Hmm…" Jemusu hummed in thought.

"Hey!" Meira's voice called out for them. "Wait up!"

The two men turned around to see the young woman running towards them. They waited patiently as she caught up to them, huffing for a minute before she spoke. "Is it, um...okay if I go with you two?"

Edi and Jemusu glanced at each other, and looked back at Meira. "Uh...sure." Edi said slowly, sounding a little unsure.

"Yeah, that's fine." Jemusu said with a shrug.

"Okay then! I just...need some air." Meira said, before taking another breath.

Glancing at each other again, Jemusu and Edi just shrugged. They then went off into the foggy streets of this seemingly abandoned town, trying to find anything that could help take their minds off of their troubles.

"... " The three of them walked together in awkward silence, unsure of what to say, nor of who should start talking.

Edi cleared his throat. "Um…"

Jemusu and Meira turned their attention to him.

Edi then looked at Meira. "Okay, look, Meira, right? I, um...I'm sorry that I called you a bitch, okay?"

Meira blinked at his apology, obviously not expecting it. Too stunned to reply, Edi took it as an invitation to continue. "I mean, we didn't exactly get on the right foot or anything, and...I guess we were just cranky with all the traveling we did out of prison, and…" He sighed. "Look, how about we start over, okay?" Edi stopped in front of Meira, who in turn stopped as well. "Um...I'm Edi. And...I was kind of born fat I guess. I mean, babies are born fat I suppose...um, anyway, my mom, uh...thinks I don't amount to anything, and it kind of took a toll on my self-esteem, and I...well, there you go. Other than that, um...sorry for gettin' mad at ya."

Meira stood there in slight shock. "Um...n-no problem. I'm...sorry for taking out my frustrations on you. It really isn't your fault...not one bit actually."

"Oh! Um, I'm glad to hear that. And, uh, yeah, like I said, I'm sorry too." Edi blushed, unable to look at Meira in the eyes.

Meira looked at him for a bit, until she looked away as well.

"Oohkay." Jemusu said, feeling like the third wheel. He wordlessly turned around, and resumed walking. After a few more seconds of some more awkward shuffling, they quickly tried to catch up to him.

* * *

Ozai was walking the opposite way from where they were. He had his eyes set on finding one of these so-called "members of The Order".

' _They say they can bring my fire-bending back...I must know how this will work.'_

When the letter came to him in prison, he couldn't believe the notion that he would be able to have his bending back. The Avatar himself took it away, so he didn't think it was possible! The letter, however, said otherwise. These people call their group "The Order" - whatever that means - and although they were cryptic on how they were going to bring it back, they did fulfill their promise of breaking them out. Therefore, they _must_ be confident on what they have to offer will work. They wouldn't go to this much trouble to break them out if they didn't have a plan.

' _Either way, I have to find them. Maybe I should ask this Mother Daria...I believe they said that they were in the town hall. If that's the case, then I just need to find it.'_

Ozai then proceeded to walk through the streets of Silent Hills, finding his way through the fog.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Azula sat on one of the lounge chairs that occupied the waiting areas in the lobby, her hand on her chin and her elbow resting on the armrest of the chair, feeling quite bored out of her mind. Meanwhile, Anjera sat quietly in one of the other chairs opposite from her, hunched over.

Azula sat there still, but couldn't help but think about that strange lady that appeared before them at breakfast.

' _Who was she, and what's with her strange accessories? Her feet and the key in her head are quite...unconventional. Is it some sort of theme they have going on in this hotel? Or could it be from a past injury?'_ The former Fire Lady wondered. She glanced at Anjera, who still just sat there.

As if on cue, Anjera looked up at Azula once she felt eyes were on her.

"...So, what was your reason for being imprisoned?" Azula asked, deciding to strike up a conversation.

Anjera looked surprised by that question. "Oh...um…" She looked down in her seat, looking very nervous all of a sudden.

Azula raised a brow. "There's no need to worry. I mean, we're all fellow prisoners here. You might as well tell."

Anjera remained silent.

The Fire Lady lifted her head off her palm, and gave the older young woman a look. "How old are you? You don't look that much older than I am."

"...Nineteen." Anjera answered.

"Hm...only four years older than me." Azula estimated. She then leaned back in her chair, but continued to look at her in interest. "Have I seen you before?"

The frail girl looked at her curiously.

"Hmm...aren't you part of the Orocho family?" The young princess asked.

"... " The girl said nothing, but eventually nodded. When she didn't say anything else, Azula thought about threatening her for her insolence, when she finally noticed something that she was used to seeing whenever people spoke to her: Fear.

Puzzled, since she knew that it wasn't her that she was afraid of, she decided to patiently wait for her answer.

"...It all started when I was fifteen." She finally said. "Mother had just died, and Father was… going through a difficult time."

Azula said nothing, but had Anjera have looked into Azula's eyes, she would've seen that they have softened just a little for a microsecond, before they were hardened.

"He began to drink a lot, and would often get pretty angry." Azula noticed that her fingers were clutching the armrests, her bones sticking out from her flesh. "Our servants eventually left us, growing terrified of his private outbursts. Because of this, I tried to do everything I can to help my father and my brother."

Her eyes then grew distant as she began to return to her memories.

"Then one day while bathing, I noticed that I was bleeding. Since I was young, I didn't know what that meant, and ran to my father for help."

Her lips then trembled, as if she was about to burst into tears. Her fingers clenched the armrest even harder, and Azula wondered if her fingers were going to break from the pressure.

"I suppose that's when everything else went wrong."

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Azula cautiously asked, "...What happened?"

"...Father was extra drunk that day." Anjera finally continued. "And my brother was...well, was always the spoiled one that did whatever he wanted. What made it worse was how our father simply paid off whatever misdeeds he had done."

She let out a shudder as her mind went back to that fateful day.

"...They wouldn't stop touching me." Her teeth began to chatter. "It felt so wrong. It didn't feel good. I wanted them to stop, but they wouldn't listen. It went on like that for years."

Her fingernails began to scratch the chair she was sitting on, the cotton beginning to stick out of the damage she was causing.

"Everytime they did it, they seemed to calm down though, so I thought that if I let them do that to me, everything would go back to normal. But then, but then-"

She then began to tremble, and tears began to pool from her eyes. At this point, Azula wasn't sure how much more she wanted to hear. Still, some twisted part of her wanted Anjera to continue her story, so she remained silent.

"It was my 19th birthday, and the guests were beginning to leave. Like that night, my father was more drunk than usual. My brother's girlfriend left him after she found out he was cheating on her. My father...he wanted me to put on my mother's wedding dress."

Azula's eyes widened as she paled at that last part, suddenly regretting her desire to hear more.

"I thought that they were just going to do the usual touching and kissing… but then they began to put their fingers in me." Anjera stopped scratching her chair, and hugged herself, as if she was trying to stop herself from shaking out of her skin. "It hurt...it hurt...it felt so disgusting...I wanted them to stop, but then they just hit me again…"

Even Azula wasn't feeling too good at this point. She began to fill in the blanks herself, and felt quite sick herself.

"...I didn't mean to do it." She finally managed to say. "It just hurt so much, and it was so disgusting...and-and-the next thing I knew, they were on the floor, just-just-burnt to nothing…"

The girls sat there in uncomfortable silence. The former Fire Lady shifted into her seat as the girl's story began to sink into her mind. Even Azula had to agree that such an ordeal was quite twisted, and that no girl, no matter where they came from, deserved such a fate.

' _...would Father would've done that to me?'_ Azula began to wonder. She pictured Ozai as he pinned her down onto the table, burning off her clothes as he struggled to get to her sacred spot. She pictured herself screaming for him to stop, only to be harshly slapped, threatening to burn her like he did to Zuko, before running his lips on top of hers, calling out her mother's name…

Azula shuddered, and stopped herself from thinking of that scenario any longer. Suddenly feeling quite cold, she brought her legs onto her seat, and tucked her chin into her knees as she hugged herself.

"I'm sorry," Anjera spoke out, still looking distant. "but that's my side of the story."

"..." Azula got from her seat and walked away from the waiting area, leaving Anjera all alone.

She needed…some space right now.

* * *

The former Fire Lady began to make her way to the back, where she heard that there was a deck outside that overlooks the lake. She walked over to the railing and leaned over it, trying to erase the conversation with Anjera from her mind.

She looked down at the rippling lake below, watching as the wave moved back and forth in a gentle, majestic manner. For many, the sight is a beautiful one, but Azula clenched her teeth in fury as the wooden railing began to smoke under her palms. For Azula, the blasted lake only served to remind her of her humiliating defeat at the hands of the damned waterbender.

* * *

 _Azula cackled as she chased the waterbender. After striking down her brother with her lightning, the pitiful waterbender would be next. With a yell, she thrust her fist out, sending a beam of blue fire at her._

 _The waterbender, Katara, if she remembered correctly (not that she cared), was currently running for her life, like a coward. Using her waterbending, she created ice as she skated away from her. With every shot that missed, Azula grew angrier by the minute. Why won't this pest just die?!_

" _Ah!" The waterbender suddenly tripped, and fell onto the metal grates on the floor. Azula grinned as she looked around frantically, before she stood up._

' _Hm, it appears that she's finally ready to fight.' Azula sneered. 'Good. Now I can end this once and for all!'_

 _And with that, she charged. The waterbender threw the last of her water at her, which she deflected with ease. This was it! She was now out of water! With a roar, she leapt at her, her arm stretched out. Hot, burning, energy coursed through her veins, as they worked quickly to leave through her fingers. This was the end-_

 _And suddenly, her world was filled with water. After a second of stunned silence, she remembered to hold her breath. What was going on?! Where did the water come fro-?_

 _Her eyes quickly looked underneath her, and to her horror, she realized that she was standing underneath a water grate. This filthy...peasant, had somehow tricked her. HER! Azula, the cold, calculating soon to be Fire Lady of the Fire Nation, was somehow tricked by this lowly, inferior bender, who came from some backwater frozen wasteland she called her home!_

 _Infuriated, she tried to move, but to her horror, she found that every muscle in her body was locked down by the water prison she was stuck in. To make matters worse, the waterbender could somehow move through the water._

 _CLINK. CLANK. CLINK. CLANK. CLINK._

 _In the waterbender's hands were some chains she had found nearby, and suddenly she knew what she was up to._

 _No. No. No. NO!_

 _Azula could do nothing but helplessly watch as the water-tribe girl slowly tied her arms together with the chain, before pinned her down onto the grate._

 _SPLASH!_

 _The water finally came down on both of them, and she was able to breathe again. Despite this, however, Azula found that she had preferred if she had drowned her, for she had lost._

 _Lost? Lost! LOST! She lost against the waterbender girl!_

 _The minute this processed in her brain, Azula began to panic. Her breathing became erratic, before she finally exploded. She roared in rage, a jet of blue fire erupted from her throat. Like a trapped animal, she began to tuck and jerk her body about, desperately trying to free herself from her chains. Despite her best efforts though, she knew that she was done. She had lost, and there was nothing she can do to get herself out of it._

 _And just like that, for the first time in years, Azula cried._

* * *

 _CRUNCH!_

Azula was ripped from her memories as she realized that the railing she was burning had been crushed underneath her hands. She realized that she was trembling, although whether it was from fear or from anger, she didn't know. Azula looked at her ash-covered hands, and swore as she found burnt splinters in her palms.

Azula stood there as she gritted her teeth. She clenched her fists together, then winced, remembering the splinters in her hands.

She couldn't believe that someone like that little water peasant _bitch_ would outdo her. She made her feel like a-

' _Don't think that! Just don't!'_ Azula trembled as it took all of her willpower to not shed a single _damn_ tear.

She doesn't want to _ever_ think that accursed word. It belonged to Zuko, not _her_!

 _ **Failure.**_

And suddenly, Azula began to break down again. Sobs escaped her throat as she fell onto her knees, her tears spilling onto her wounded hands.

 _CLINK. CLINK. CLINK._

Azula suddenly looked up, and saw a familiar pair of metal feet. She lifted her head higher, and saw the concerned look of the maid from before.

"Oh my. Dear, are you alright?" The maid asked as she knelt to Azula's level.

Eyes still wet from the tears, Azula said nothing, a little dazed from her sudden appearance.

The woman grabbed her hands, inspecting the damage. Azula's eyes widened at the soft touch, suddenly realizing that the maid had witnessed her meltdown.

"G-get away from me!" Azula snapped, slapping her hands away. Azula then hissed with pain, since a splinter had sunken further into her flesh from her action.

"Now, now, please calm down. I am trying to help you." The maid soothingly said as she reached out for her.

"HELP ME?!" Azula all but shrieked. She painfully fell back on her hands and her rear, and tried to crawl back. "No one can help me! How do I know that you're not up to something?!"

"You don't." The maid said quietly. Her blunt answer made Azula pause. "But I will assure you that I mean you no harm. I only wish to help you with your injury."

The dark-haired woman stood and then backed off a little, giving the terrified firebender some room.

"I will not help you if you do not want me too. But I can show you where the infirmary is, so that you can have the proper medical supplies you'll need to help clean up your wounds. Does that sound alright?"

Giving her a pointed look, Azula gazed at her suspiciously. She then pushed herself up (all the while wincing at the splinters that were going further in her hands), and stood before her as she replied with an irritated mumble. "Fine…just take me there."

The woman nodded. "Certainly, Dear." And with that, she turned around to lead Azula to where the infirmary is in the hotel.

Azula followed her, slightly waving her hands a bit to ease the pain in her palms. While they walked, the woman began to hum a soft tune.

The younger woman stopped for a moment, her eyes widening.

"What...what is that?" Azula asked her in a stunned manner.

The maid stopped as well, and turned towards the former royal. "That? That is just a simple tune to a song."

Azula just stared at her, unsure of what to say. "...Wh-what is your name?"

The woman smiled, and said, "My name is Ai, Dear. I am the maid, or rather, The Caretaker, of this lovely little town." She then gave her a curtsy to conclude her formal introduction.

"...Alright." The former Fire Lady said. "Then...Ai. How do you know of that song?"

The Caretaker gave her another smile. "That particular song is quite popular amongst mothers around the world." She explained. "It is something we sing to comfort those in the dark, especially to those that we care about. It is also something we sing to help remind ourselves of the world we live in, and how simple, yet beautiful it can be."

Ai then turned around, and resumed leading Azula to the infirmary. The said firebender could only follow in stunned silence, unsure of what to make of her answer. The maid began to hum that song again. Azula winced as her heart began to ache. She gingerly moved her right hand to her heart, almost as if to soothe its pain. Strangely enough, despite the fact that hearing the song hurt her heart, she never once had the heart to tell Ai to stop humming.

"We're here." Ai's gentle voice echoed through the empty hall. The door was a slider, which squeaked rather loudly when Ai pulled it open.

"All the materials you need are in those cabinets and drawers." Ai explained. "Help yourself if you like." She then sat down on a chair nearby. Closing her eyes, she slowly slumped over, remaining as still as a doll, looking quite asleep. Despite this look, her key still turned, indicating that she was still awake.

Azula couldn't help but stare at the mysterious woman. ' _...She really looks like a doll.'_ She thought, before shaking her head, the stinging wounds in her hands bringing her back to reality. She then turned her eyes away from the woman, and began to poke through the cabinets and drawers.

* * *

Azula was growing more frustrated by the minute. It was hard to remove the splinters in one hand if the other one screamed in agony every time she moved it. No matter how hard she tried, removing one splinter caused more tears to drop from her face, since using her other hand and pulling out the splinter seemed to hurt equally.

In other words, it was like pulling your own teeth, and with each one you pull, the less likely you are to successfully pull out the next one.

"Would you like some help?" Ai asked suddenly, making Azula yelp as she accidentally ripped another splinter out quite painfully.

"Are you mad, woman?!" She hissed through her teeth. "Look at what you made me do!"

The maid at least had the courtesy to wince in sympathy.

"I'm very sorry about that." She apologized. "I just thought that you needed some help. Would you-"

"No!" Azula snapped. "I can do it on my own! I don't need anyone to help me!"

And with that, Azula resumed her painful method of tearing out the splinters. Despite her determination to fix the problem on her own, she found that it was too painful to do so. Each splinter left behind a painful tear that bled profusely, the floor growing wetter with each drop of blood spilled. Her hands were trembling harder and faster, making it impossible to even grab the next splinter.

Azula couldn't take it anymore, and finally put down the tweezers. That made Ai lift her head back up, her dreamy eyes now staring into Azula's cold, unwavering one. They looked at each other for a moment, until Azula sighed.

"...Fine. I'll...let you help me."

Many would've frowned at her attitude, and many more would've blown her off for it, but Ai just smiled, before she stood up, walking towards her slowly and quietly.

Ai stopped for a moment, before she turned to her left, and began pulling out more tools and other items from the nearby storages. She then took out a small grinding bowl. Pouring various herbs, powders, and liquids into it, she began to mix it together, mashing it into a paste.

"W-what is that for?" Azula demanded. Ai smiled without looking at her.

"This particular paste is meant to numb the pain." She explained. "That way we can not only take out those splinters with minimal pain, but we can do so without spilling too much blood."

She then took out another grinding bowl, and began to make another solution with it.

"This one is to help make sure that your wounds do not become infected." Ai explained before Azula can ask, making her shut her mouth with a click.

Ai was finally done making her mixture, and walked over to Azula. Taking the first bowl, she grabbed a stool, before sitting down.

"This may sting a little." Ai warned, before slowly pouring the paste into Azula's hands. Azula hissed in pain, as it did sting. What made it worse was how she was spreading the newly made ointment all over her hands.

Azula's hisses and grunts of pain came to a gradual halt as she realized that her hands were quickly feeling very numb. Curious, she gingerly moved her hand, and found that she felt only a minor tingle from the wounds in place of the stabbing pain she had once felt. That's why when Ai plucked out a splinter, it only made her blink in surprise.

Thanks to the newly made anesthesia, Ai was able to remove her splinters without much pain, much to Azula's delight. However, seeing as how it was still a frightening process to go through, Azula winced in fear every time she saw Ai rip out a large shard of wood from her flesh.

Seeing her reaction, Ai began to hum the same song from before, and Azula suddenly found herself relaxing to her song. Closing her eyes, she began to forget about her splinters, as well as the small pricks she still felt from their removal, as she allowed herself to fall into a quick slumber to escape her pain.

* * *

 _Ty Lee giggled as she did a perfect cartwheel, eventually stopping right in front of a tree._

" _Look, Azula! Wasn't I amazing?!" Ty Lee hooted. Azula merely nodded, secretly jealous of her acrobatic skills._

 _Ty Lee then began to do some impressive flips, landing on her hands without stumbling at once. Azula's eyebrow ticked as her jealousy grew even bigger. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore._

" _Out of the way, Ty Lee!" She called out, making her stop in her tracks. This caught the attention of Zuko and Mai, who were talking about something that she didn't care enough to listen to. "I'm going to do exactly what you did!"_

 _Ty Lee blinked at that, before she leapt back onto her feet._

" _Uh, Azula? I don't think that's a good idea-" She started to say, before she was silenced by her glare._

" _I'll be fine, Ty Lee. Unless you're doubting my skills?"_

 _Unwilling to answer that question, Ty Lee kept her mouth shut, which thankfully satisfied the princess. Taking a deep breath, Azula raised her hands, before she attempted the cartwheel towards the tree._

 _SLAM!_

" _OW!" Azula wailed as she clutched her left palm. As Ty Lee had silently predicted, Azula was not ready to do such a stunt. Azula had somehow managed to do two successful cartwheels, before she lost balance, and ended up hitting a tree. She managed to stop the fall with her left hand, but in doing so, ended up cutting her left palm rather badly._

" _Azula!? Are you okay!?" Zuko yelled out to her. He, Mai, and a slightly hesitant Ty Lee went over there to check up on her._

" _Don't crowd me!" Azula exclaimed as she clenched her hand with her other. She looked at the damage, and winced at the amount of blood that was oozing out of her wound._

" _What's going on here?" A woman's voice called out._

 _Zuko looked at the direction of her voice. "Mom! Azula hurt herself!"_

" _Shut up!" Azula shouted, trying to not shed any tears._

" _Oh my. Azula, what have you done?" The woman ran up to the little girl. Mai and Ty Lee immediately backed up and bowed in respect at Ursa, the Queen of the Fire Nation, silently hoping that they wouldn't get blamed for her daughter's injury._

" _Nothing! I just-OWWW!" Azula whined in pain._

" _Azula, what happened?" Ursa said as she knelt down to her level._

" _Azula was doing a cartwheel, but failed." Mai said without blinking._

" _Darn it, Mai!"_

 _Ursa just shook her head. "Oh Azula...here, let me look at it."_

 _Before Azula could protest, she took Azula's hands, and inspected the damage. Ursa's beautiful face crinkled as she too winced at the damage._

" _Alright honey, come with me. We'll get it cleaned up." Ursa took Azula's hand, and to everyone's surprise, she didn't object. She just looked away, unable to meet everyone's eyes._

* * *

" _Ow!" Azula winced as her mother cleaned up her scrap with a cloth. The said cloth had some sort of mixture that her mother made herself, which was supposed to help with the pain. And indeed it did, since she found that the searing pain in her left hand was growing more numb by the minute._

 _What the medicine failed to do, however, is sedate the growing horror, fear, and disgust that Azula was feeling every time she looked back at your injury. It was disturbing to watch her torn flesh, shredded almost to ribbons as the separated tissue was whitening, while her blood still oozed out from it._

" _Don't look at it honey." Ursa warned her too late. Azula couldn't help it. She began to whimper as tears threatened to roll down her face. She began to tremble as her breathing became more erratic._

" _Shh, shh." Ursa whispered, hugging her daughter to try to comfort her. "It's okay honey, you don't need to be scared."_

 _Despite her effort, Azula was on the verge of a breakdown. Ursa's face tightened in concentration, trying to figure out what to do, before she thought of something. Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth to sing._

" _Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting. Right there where you left it, lying upside down._

 _When you finally find it, you'll find something waiting. The underside is lighter when you turn it around."_

 _Hearing this familiar song, Azula began to calm down. Her sniffles gradually grew less in numbers as she leaned into her mother, focusing on the song._

" _Everything stays, right where you left it. Everything stays, but it still changes. Ever so slightly, daily and nightly, in little ways, when everything stays."_

 _Hearing this song a thousand times, Azula knew the words by heart. And yet, every time Mother sang it to her, it always magical. For the first time in a while, Azula let out a genuine smile._

" _Go down to the ocean, the crystal tide is rising._

 _The water's gotten higher as the shore washes out._

 _Keep your eyes wide open, even when the sun is blazing._

 _The moon controls the tide, it can cause you to drown."_

 _Ursa smiled as she heard her daughter sing. She felt Azula gradually relaxing, as the fear of the unfamiliar, painful sensation was replaced by feelings of comfort. Looking at each other, they both resumed the rest of the song._

" _Everything stays, right where you left it. Everything stays, but it still changes._

 _Ever so slightly, daily and nightly, in little ways, when everything stays."_

* * *

"There, all better." Ai's soothing voice snapped Azula out of the pleasant memory. "...Are you feeling alright?"

Azula blinked, taking her a minute to remember where she was. In the well lit, yet gloomy infirmary, with just the two of them together. Azula then looked down at her hands, and found that they were cleaned up and bandaged properly. To make things even better, the anesthetic was still working, making her feel little-to-nothing when she flexed her hands.

"...Yes." Azula finally said. "I'm alright."

Ai's smile turned into a slight frown, not believing her words. After wiping her hands, she sat back down in front of Azula, gently grabbing her hands.

"Are you feeling alright?" Ai repeated her question, this time a little more slowly. Just then, Azula went through many emotions at once. Anger. Fear. Mistrust. But finally, it all ended with a singular emotion: Grief.

"...No." Azula confessed, looking down at her hands. "No, I'm not alright."

And just like that, Azula began to cry again. Her face was pressed against the maid's shoulder. Ai closed her eyes as she embraced Azula in a hug. For a while, they just remained there, silent as a grave, save for Azula's muffled sobs and the sound of Ai's key turning.

Azula, for once, didn't care that someone knew that she was crying.

* * *

 **8:00 AM**

* * *

"Man, this fog is not letting up," Jemusu said as he trudged through the mist.

"What time is it now? It has to be close to the eighth hour in the morning." Meira said in irritation.

"Yeah...how long had we've been walking?" Edi asked them.

"I don't know, but I'm getting a little...tired…" Jemusu said feeling his eyes becoming heavy all of a sudden.

"Huh...yeah...me too." Meira says, feeling the weight of sleep on her eyes as well.

"Hey, that's...weird...I feel...sleepy too…" Edi said drifting off.

The three slowly made their way to a bench and each of them sat down on it, Jemusu on the left, Edi on the middle, and Meira on the right.

"Maybe just...a little sleep...will make us...feel more awake..." Jemusu murmured.

"Yeah...sounds good…" Edi slurred, his eyelids already growing heavy.

"I could...use the rest...right now…" Meira yawned as she leaned onto Edi.

Jemusu leaned on the armrest as he began to snooze away, while Edi leaned back on the bench. Within seconds, the three youngsters lost the battle of will, and succumbed to the wave of change that was spreading across the island.

* * *

Anjera sniffed as she wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. She then let out a yawn, feeling quite drained from her meltdown.

' _Feeling sleepy already?'_ She thought bitterly to herself. ' _I guess a weak monster like me shouldn't have expected much. I didn't even...get too…'_

Anjera then slumped over in her chair, dropping her damp handkerchief onto the floor. Her eyes watched as the fireplace suddenly began to die, despite how large it was just seconds ago.

' _...find out what Azula thought.'_

* * *

Ai was carrying Azula in her arms as she cried herself to sleep. The maid hummed the same song as she did so, which seemed to help the princess sleep with better dreams.

"Hm?" Ai looked to her right and noticed Anjera had suddenly fallen asleep. She also noticed that the fireplace had suddenly begun to gradually die, despite the fact that she had replaced the firewood herself not that long ago. She walked over to the fireplace and narrowed her eyes at the smoldering, yet still plentiful pile of firewood.

"...So, it seems it's about to start for all of them," Ai let out a sigh. Putting Azula down onto the chair near Anjera, Ai then set out to lock the front double sliding doors with a key. Placing it in one of her pockets, she then lets the window curtains down to block out any light. The only things she got out were candles that she got out of a drawer in the reception desk, and placed them on candle holders. She placed both of the candle holders near the two young women on a table stand that was in between their seats.

As she was done with that, Ai then took another look at the two sleeping women.

"...Good luck. Stay close to each other, and don't let it consume either one of you," She whispered softly, before kissing their foreheads. She then sat down on her knees, and began to pray, humming the same song she had hummed to Azula.

* * *

"Damn it! Why am I growing...so...tired?" Ozai muttered.

After a couple of steps, he knelt down on the ground and landed on it, drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

"What's...happening…?" Ozai asked in a daze. Despite mustering all of his willpower, he discovered in horror that he couldn't move a single muscle! All energy in his body was suddenly zapped by an invisible force, which hungered for more every time he grew weaker.

It was as if they were being overcome by a peaceful silence. Everything was calm. Everything was quiet. _**EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT. THERE ARE NO WORRIES**_ _._

Just a peaceful, dreamless sleep…

* * *

 **...Now...we can finally play...**

* * *

" **We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves."**

* * *

 **Present Time - 11:13 AM**

* * *

The Avatar and his friends kept on walking deeper into the forest, even the light began to fade away from sight. The trees began to grow closer. The fog began to thicken. And to make matters worse, it smelled like it was going to rain.

It was growing harder to see, with the fog consuming everything in their path. The air grew so opaque that they all held hands to make sure that they didn't lose each other. Zuko, Iroh, and Aang were still using their firebending to light their way as the rest followed them. Aang even went as far as trying to clear away the fog with some of his airbending so they can see clearly.

But strangely enough, the thick fog would roll back into existence. It's as if the mist was a stubborn entity trying to make itself known.

After a while of doing that, Aang decided to play it safe and keep using firebending to guide them. The light is meant to comfort those who are lost in the dark, but somehow, this didn't seem to help their nerves.

It was about thirty minutes into the deep forest that Aang noticed Toph's growing look of confusion and concern.

"Are you alright, Toph?" He finally asked, grabbing her attention.

"...not really, Twinkletoes." She finally said. Her head kept on moving side to side as if she was trying to look for something on the ground.

"What's the matter?" Katara asked, shivering slightly from the cold.

"I don't know," The blind Earthbender confessed. "I mean, the ground feels fine, and yet, something just seems...wrong."

"Wrong?"

"I-I really don't know how to describe it. But," Toph began to tap her foot. "It really makes me feel...uncomfortable."

After that, everyone fell into a pause. Finally, Iroh cleared his throat.

"It would be best for us to stay on our guard." He said wisely. "Oftentimes it's always the animals that leave first before the storm. Perhaps nature is trying to tell us something through our earthbender's connection to her."

"Then what is the earth trying to say when..." Toph asked with a shudder. "...when it feels like it has a pulse?"

"A pulse?" Suki asked her. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I mean. Like...it has a pulse." Toph clarified.

"Really?" Aang asked in wonder. "But...why would the ground have a pulse?"

"I don't...wait," Toph then set her feet firmly into the grass. "...Now it's gone."

Everyone looked confused by her statement.

"...Are you trying to mess with us right now?" Sokka asked in an unsure tone.

Toph groaned. "Snoozles, I'm not joking! It really felt like it had a pulse for a second."

"That's...weird," Katara said as she hugged herself, trying to get rid of the discomfort she's feeling.

Zuko stood there thinking, until he asked Iroh, "Uncle, did you say this island has volcanic activity or not?"

"Well, I did say it was known to be a quiet area, so...I don't think so." Iroh said warily.

"Well...it's gone now, right? Maybe it was a tremor?" Aang told Toph.

"...Yeah. Yeah, that's...that's what it probably was." Toph said, mostly to herself.

Everyone stood there in the quiet. The fog was still thick, and they can barely see each other as they thought about what Toph might've felt.

It was than Zuko broke the quiet. "Well, we need to keep going either way."

"Um, I'm sorry for being pessimistic," Began Sokka, "but to _where_ exactly? We've been walking in this fog for who knows how long, and we haven't even seen this town. We could be walking in circles for all we know!"

"Nope. We've been walking a straight line for a while now." Toph confirmed.

"Well, how far _is_ this town then?" Sokka said, a little frustrated.

"Sokka, we just have to keep going," Suki said assuringly.

"Suki's right." Iroh said, "We need to trudge forward. We've been walking for quite a while, so I'm certain we shall reach the town at some point."

While they were talking, Zuko glanced at Katara, who was hugging herself as she looked bothered.

"You okay?" Zuko asked her. Aang, wondering who he was talking to, turned his head to where Zuko was looking. Upon seeing that the young firebender is talking to his girlfriend, as well as checking up on her, Aang felt a little envious. However, those emotions quickly faded when he saw that Katara was indeed looking quite uncomfortable. "Katara, are you alright?"

The rest of them looked at Katara, who stood there looking at them, snapping out of her daze. She looked uncertain. "Well…" she shivered, "It's just...I don't know why, but...I kind of get the feeling that...someone is watching us."

"Watching us?" Aang asked her.

Zuko looked around the area, as well as Iroh. Turning to his uncle, he gave him a nod, while the older man nodded as well.

"Everyone, huddle together," Iroh announced. "Zuko and I are going to check and see if anyone else is in this fog."

Zuko and Iroh then went back to back and began making quick hand motions, before unleashing their fire at the ground, creating a protective circle.

The fiery barrier lit up the foggy area, revealing...nothing.

Seeing that there was nothing, Katara began to blush.

"I'm sorry for the trouble." Katara apologized meekly, but Iroh merely shook his head.

"It is quite alright, Lady Katara." He said. "In these unfamiliar territories, it never hurts to be careful. I do hope that we were able to dissipate your worries."

Katara nodded her head, feeling a little better, and at that, the two firebenders turned out their flames.

...However, something can be heard in the distance.

"Wait a second. I hear something." Toph told everyone, listening intently to whatever she's sensing.

Everyone else paused as they tried to listen to what the earthbender could be hearing.

...She was right. There was a sound.

"Hey...I hear it now." Aang said in a whisper.

It sounded like...hysterical wailing...

Sokka raised a brow. "What is that?" He asked quietly.

The rest of the Gaang stood their ground, as the wailing comes a little closer...

"...sorry! Please, daddy, I'm so sorry! Come back! Daddy, are you there!? Please! _Please! PLEASE_ _ **!**_ "

Zuko blinked. "What the…?" He mumbled in confusion.

Iroh also looked puzzled. The rest of the Gaang went on high alert when the noise started to become audible and comprehensible.

"Daddy! Daddy, I'm lost! Don't leave me! DON'T LEAVE ME! _**PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! PLEASE!**_ " The voice became frantic, more desperate. " _ **AAAAAUUUGGHHH!"**_

The wailings became more coherent as the creature grew closer. Its voice sounded hoarse, as if it had been screaming for hours, and yet, it still sounded like the voice of a banshee, screaming in fright of an unknown being.

It was then they can see a man coming into view in the fog. He looked to be staggering, hunched over and babbling incoherently. His shape was rather bulky, looking like he's wearing Fire Nation armor, but without a helmet on…

Zuko's eyes widened as well as Iroh's.

"DADDY!? D-Daddy, is that you!?"

Katara and Suki looked on in slight fear, uneasy of what will emerge from the mist. Sokka and Aang gazed at the figure with bated breath, wondering what they'll encounter. Toph stood her ground, but at the same time, she was becoming uneasy as well.

"Daddy!? Daddy? P-Please...please be here…"

The figure came into view, proving Zuko's and Iroh's suspicions were correct.

"Torubi?" Zuko said, letting out the breath he was holding.

Indeed it was Torubi. However, he doesn't have his helmet on, and looked…anguished, scared, even mal-nourished. His eyes were wide open, almost lifeless, like he was trying to stay awake throughout the whole day. He was also fidgeting as he kept looking around him for...something. Or maybe _someone_. Even his armor was really worn to the point that he was missing a shoulder pad and a leg armor pad.

All in all, he looked... _horrible_.

"My word...Torubi, what happened to you?" Iroh asked in shock and horror.

Torubi still fidgeted as he stared at them all, his right eye twitching as he started mumbling gibberish. "Wh-what-you-you're-not-not-not-I-how-when-what is-D-Daddy-Daddy-Daddy-what-"

"Torubi!" Zuko exclaimed, trying to make him snap out of it. He couldn't bear to see him like this. When the soldier didn't respond, Zuko placed his hands on his shoulders. This gave Torubi a startled yelp, almost making the Fire Lord jump back.

Feeling disturbed by all this, Zuko tried again and slowly placed his hands on Torubi's shoulders, all the while saying, "Torubi, what happened? Who on Earth did this to you?"

Torubi twitched and twitched, until he slowly said, "I...dodon't...know…"

"You don't?" Iroh asked, jumping in on the conversation.

"He's...not lying," Toph said, feeling the same unease as she listens in.

Zuko asked, "What do you mean? Where are the others? Your captain, your fellow soldiers?"

Torubi's eyes widened in dread. "Captain...the others...I was going to…try to call for more back-up..." His breathing started to fasten as he grabbed each side of his head, grasping his hair, "O-Oh spirits, I'm-I'm-I'm lost! I'm _lost again!_ "

"Torubi, please calm down, you are okay now." Reassured Iroh. "Just tell us what happened. Are the captain and the soldiers alright? How long have you've been wandering here?"

He looked like he was about to hyperventilate, his hand on his chest armor while the other grasping his hair.

"Torubi," Zuko said, feeling such great pity for the man right now. "Please, tell us happened. Give us a shorter version of it."

That seemed to calm him down, as Torubi slowly gave out slow deep breaths. His whole face almost looked tranquil and with one last deep breath, he said in a shaky voice. "I was...trying to go back to the airship, but...I...I was _los_ t."

"In this fog?" Katara asked him, trying to see if she can help the man as well.

The man took one look at the waterbender for a moment, before he burst into soft deranged chuckles.

"HEHEHEHE...nonono, thefogisjustphysical. Therealfogisinyourmind!"

The man's words grew more erratic as the man continued to laugh, sending chills up of everyone's spines.

"Uuuuh...okay…" Sokka said, looking quite disturbed.

"Sir, we just want to help-" Aang tried to say to him, but was quickly cut off.

"It knows who you are." The man giggled, scratching his head as he looked at Sokka, Aang, and everyone else. "It digs inside your brain as it _consumes_ you! There's no escaping it…" He chuckled softly, and as he began to look at Zuko, his chuckles died down. With a loud whisper, he said to him. " _THERE'S NO ESCAPING YOUR OWN_ _ **HELL**_."

Zuko blinked at the claim. "Torubi, what in the world are you talking abou-"

And with that, the man drew out his knife, sending everyone into a panic.

"Woah, woah, woah, take it easy man!" Sokka said, drawing his trusty space sword. "We're not your enemies. Look, this guy's your Fire Lord, dude."

The man's eyes twitched as he looked everywhere, as if searching for an invisible enemy.

"You don't get it, do you?" The man whispered harshly. "The real enemy is within us. It's within _Silent Hills_." Then with one last faraway look he said in a normal tone. "I'm manning up for what I've done, Daddy…"

And with that, he raised his dagger to his throat.

 **SLASH!**

"TORUBI! NO!" Zuko exclaimed.

"URG! ACK! GURG!" With a horrible gurgle, the man fell onto his knees as his throat bled out. Aang and Katara screamed in horror. Sokka felt sick and ran into the nearby bush to puke. Suki shut her eyes and covered her ears. Toph whitened as she stumbled backwards onto her rear. Zuko and Iroh simply looked away, unable to see the death that had just occurred in front of them.

The man laid there on the ground, his form twitching as the last remnants of his blood poured out of his fatal neck wound. Silence wafted in the air, as well as the fresh smell of blood and death. Sokka regained his bearings after he puked and shakily got up from the bush.

"...Spirits, what the hell _was_ that?" Sokka panted, as if trying to hold back another vomit. He glanced at the dead body, and almost puked again.

"..." Zuko suddenly fell on his knees, despair and guilt written all over his face.

"Zuko?" Katara immediately ran to his side, concern evident in her voice. "Are you alright?"

"...I couldn't save them." Zuko said, his breath trembling. "I couldn't save them, and this time, I just lead them to their deaths."

"Zuko," Iroh said softly, "It was not your fault."

"Yes it is!" Zuko grasped his head in his hands. "How am I any better than my father if I just send my men to their deaths?"

"Zuko." Katara softly said to him in worry, feeling sympathy for him, but also trying to let him get him back into the mission at hand.

But the Fire Lord wasn't listening, letting go of his head and slamming his hands onto the ground, his fingers digging into the soft dirt.

"What kind of Fire Lord am I?!" Zuko exclaimed as he pounded the dirt ground.

"Zuko…"

"Am I no better than my father?!"

"Zuko."

"I'm so _worthless_!"

"Zuko!"

"Why can't I just do something right for-?!"

 _SPLASH!_

"ZUKO!"

Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by a slap of water-literally. He blinked, his head now soaked, and he realized that Katara had waterbent some of her bottled water on him.

"Zuko." Katara's voice returned to its gentle tone again, making him relax now that he was truly listening. "We couldn't have known that these men were going to...lose their lives."

Katara let out a shudder, still remembering the look on the dead man's face.

"There's nothing we can do about it, except for finding any survivors and finishing our mission. Zuko, can you please stop beating yourself up about something that you couldn't have known about?"

Zuko's look of self-hatred melted away from his eyes from the moment that his eyes met hers. Her gentle, blue eyes seemed to cool his own, and he let out a sigh.

"Fire Lord Zuko," Iroh said in a gentle tone as well. "The lives of those soldiers were lost needlessly. However, as Lady Katara has already stated, their lives were not on your hands. Whatever could've done such a thing to them was far beyond your control and knowledge. We shall honor their sacrifice by finding any of the survivors, as well as completing their mission. Can you do that for them, Zuko?"

Zuko had a blank look on his face, before it morphed into determination.

"You're right, Uncle, Katara. Thank you."

Aang looked on at Zuko, Katara, and Iroh. Somewhere inside his mind, he was surprised that Katara went to Zuko without ceasing. The way she looked at Zuko with such concern for him...it made him feel…

Aang shook his head. ' _Stop being selfish! Zuko just had a breakdown, and you're jealous of Katara just being a friend to him!?'_

"Can someone help me up?" Toph said quietly, her tone sounding far-off. "My legs feel too weak."

The Avatar looked over at the blind earthbender, and saw the look of shock still etched onto her face. He looked at her legs, and it was still trembling, no doubt from the horrific sight they just saw. Or in Toph's case, heard and felt.

"Uh, I-I'll help you up." Aang offered.

Toph nodded and put her hand out to him as he grabbed it, heaving her up. Her balance was a little shaky, but she eventually stood on firm ground.

"Thanks," Toph muttered.

"No problem…" Aang said a little awkwardly.

"Dear Spirits, what made him go crazy like that?" Suki wondered out loud as she cautiously looked at the dead body.

"I'll tell you one thing…" Sokka spoke up, finally getting the barf back down in his throat. "We really need to keep moving. Preferably before something else can jump out at us."

Zuko got up, his back facing the others, and gave a nod. "You're right. We have to keep moving." He turned to face Toph. "Can you feel anything around this perimeter, Toph?"

"Give me a sec," Toph said, grabbing her head to clear out the aftershock. When she regained her bearings, she slammed her foot on the ground. Everyone stood still, silently waiting for her answer.

"...There's something straight ahead." Toph told everyone. "And, well, good news: I think we're close to the village."

Toph's declaration gave them a bit of a relief, their long, seemingly aimless journey finally coming to its conclusion.

"Then let's go," Katara said, before she turned to Zuko with a nod.

"Right," Zuko said with resolve and a nod of his own to the waterbender.

And with that, they continued on forward...

* * *

 **11:35 AM**

* * *

They continued to walk in silence, the only sounds they could hear were their own heartbeats, their footsteps, and their breathing. Occasionally, paranoia would get the best of them, and they would think that something was creeping up behind them, only to find out that there was nothing at all.

Then-

"There it is!" Toph shouted.

"Finally!" Sokka cried out. "I was starting to think we never get to this village!"

"Yeah, me too," Toph muttered. "...Hey, do you guys smell smoke?"

"Smoke?" Katara asked. She then blinked as she saw something in the fog. She squinted and walked closer to the falling particles from the sky. Holding out her hand, the particle glided gently onto her hand, and she took a closer look at it.

Katara paled before she threw the particle away. The black snow had brought back too many bad memories, which she did not want to think about at the moment.

"Ash!" She yelled, quickly huddling back to the group. "There's ash in the air!"

Everyone grew tense at this, seeing the black snow rain from the sky, followed by the unpleasant smell of fire consuming its prey.

Only Zuko and Aang noticed Katara trembling like a leaf. No doubt that the sight of the black snow had triggered some unpleasant memories of her past.

"Katara? Are you alright?" Zuko asked her in concern. He made a motion that looked like he was reaching out for her.

Aang, deciding not to let Zuko get a chance, came up to Katara. "Katara, is this about when the Fire Nation, well, you know…"

Katara could only nod as her trembling fists clenched tightly, her nails digging into her palms. She grew pale as she tried to hold back the feelings of anger, sorrow, and terror from spilling out of her. Tears threatened to pool out of her blue eyes as her emotions suddenly began to spiral out of control.

Zuko, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, decided to step back with a wince.

"I'm...I'm sorry." He hastily apologized in a vain effort to help her feel better.

"No...it's fine." Katara wiped her tears with her sleeves.

Iroh frowned at how this effect of fire and wood had made the waterbender feel. He put a hand on Katara's shoulder. She looked at the older man with surprise at first, but was appreciative of his reassurance. Iroh gave her a kind smile and a nod.

Sokka, who looked at his sister with worry, asked, "Are you going to be okay, Katara?"

She nodded and said to everyone. "Yes. I'm...I'm going to be fine."

Suki looked up at the ash-filled droplets. "What do you think made these?"

"A large fire probably. Duh." Sokka said.

Suki glanced at her boyfriend with a sour look. "I know that, Sokka. I actually meant...who made them?"

"Well, whoever did made all this is probably close by, right?" Aang asked curiously.

"Probably." Sokka looked towards the town. "Either way, I guess we're gonna find out soon enough."

"I'll check if anyone is nearby." Toph stomped her foot, then froze. "...Huh."

"Huh?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?" Sokka asked her.

"...I don't feel anyone close by." Toph explained.

They all looked at each other puzzled.

"Then...it's actually raining ash?" Katara asked dumbfounded.

"Hmm…" Iroh put a hand to his beard. "...We should keep moving."

"Yeah. Uncle's right. We won't get anywhere if we just stand here." Zuko told them.

Everyone nodded, and they advanced towards the town.

As soon as they went into the village limits, they were surrounded by homes that looked too still and lifeless. They don't have any activity inside them, no voices of laughter even. It seemed like everything was...abandoned. Some doors were even slid opened, letting the group look inside some of these homes, only to find them empty.

The first thing they saw when they passed through the ruined gates were...nothing. Sure, there were homes, stores, and other buildings, but there was no sign of life anywhere, human or inhuman. Like the forest they had just exited, the entire village seemed to be devoid of all life, leaving nothing behind but fog, structures, and the ominous, loud silence that rang in their ears.

The group reluctantly decided to split up in order to increase their chances of finding any source of life. Aang went with Katara, Sokka, and Suki, while Zuko went with his uncle and Toph.

When they all regrouped back after checking through some houses, Sokka said what was on everyone's mind.

"Okay, this is spooky."

"Tell me about it. This place can't possibly be abandoned, can it?" Suki said, feeling unnerved by all this.

"Man, I can't hear anything besides us talking," Toph commented.

Katara looked around the area to try to give herself some ease. "Do you...do you think the rumor of this whole island being cursed is true?"

"I sure hope not," Sokka said with a shiver.

Zuko looked unsure. "...I hope not either."

Aang glanced around the area. "Hmm...I wonder if some spirit is the cause of this town being empty."

"Aang, can we…*yawn*...stop talking about ghosts and spirits for a second?" Zuko said as he yawned for some reason.

Sokka's eyelids suddenly began to feel heavy. "Yeah..." she shook his head, "Ugh, man. I'll say this, I'm a little tired right now."

"Really, Sokka?" Katara said to her brother, before her eyelids grew heavy as well. "I've never seen you get…*yawn*...so tired from just walking."

Suki gave out a yawn. "Yeah...I'm a little tired as well." She shook her head, trying to wake herself up.

"Why are you all-" Toph's words were cut off by her rather cute yawn. "...so tired?"

"We have been walking quite a lot…" Iroh reasoned, letting out a large yawn as well.

"We...we shouldn't sleep right...now." Zuko drifted off. "At least...not outside."

Aang and his friends tried to stumble to the closest building, but found themselves growing more sleepy by the minute. Their vision was rapidly blurring, with the outside fog having nothing to do with it. With all the strength leaving them, they soon collapsed onto the ground, lying on the dry ground or leaning on the building walls.

"Goodnight you guys," Sokka muttered, before his eyes began to close. Too sluggish to even open their mouths to reply, the others began to drift off into a dreamless sleep. Their bodies refused to move a muscle, even as they heard heavy footsteps slowly walking towards them. Their heads were too fogged up to react appropriately, their unconscious brains disregarding the loud sounds of the emergency sirens going off, the sound muffled by water in their ears.

Their bodies tugged...until they gave way and were pulled through the ground.

* * *

Everyone, from Jemusu, Edi, Meira, and Ozai were asleep for about three hours...until they too were carried and dragged away...placed where they should be. Azula and Anjera both slept on their chairs in the hotel, while Ai sat there in her chair, silent as she looked to be asleep as well.

They didn't wake up when they heard the sirens.

...But they, along with the Avatar and his friends, will come to, soon...

And one of them will wake up to a whole new _nightmare_.

* * *

 _ **Heh heh heh...no turning back now, children...**_

 _ **No. Turning. Back.**_

 _ **Heh heh heh.**_

* * *

 **End of Chapter 7**

* * *

 **Hey all! Finally got this chapter done! And with the help of none other than Lucius Walker! He was interested in helping me out and betaing the story, so I gladly let him do so! And man, this chapter came out great! I wouldn't be able to get this out as quickly if it wasn't for LW's writing and help! So, with all that said, I guess we're kind of collaborating now! ^_^ All in all, thanks so much Lucius for helping me out with this chapter! :)**

 **As for this chapter, hope it's entertaining...in a way. XP But still, tell me what you think! I also bumped this up to an M, so I hope this is appropriate for this site's standards.**

 **As usual, tell me, or even Lucius Walker, what you think of it! :D Do you want to give it a review, a fave, a follow? Then go ahead! We love to know! :)**

 ***By the way, the maid character is basically Clone from** _ **Atelier Escha and Logy**_ **, but with different hair color. This was Lucius Walker's idea, by the way. She's there for a reason. ;D**

 **Until then, keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	9. 8: Nightmare

**[EDIT: 2/3/2020] Man, sorry for the edits everyone, I just realized I could make this chapter sound a lot better with some character-development and include some other interesting elements in the story. I think I got it all planned out from here though, so here's hoping there won't be any more editing from hereon in. ^^;**

 **But yeah, you can all read this chapter again to see what has changed! ;) The whole "Otherworld"(Nightmare World) concept in this story will still be the same and it will be explained at the end of the chapter still. I'm not saying this is how the "Otherworld" really works or anything, I'm just taking creative license on it. Believe it or not, the game series is still trying to figure that out as well. XP**

* * *

 **11:50 AM**

* * *

There was a meeting at the Silent Shrine about a few miles away from the northern part of the lake.

The Silent Shrine, once built to respect the spirits, was now a gathering place for the town's few residents. Candles were lit all around them as the outside was pitch black out there, the town shrouded by the thick blanket of perpetual darkness. An older woman stood behind a podium as she faced everyone that arrived at the shrine. The lower members of The Order were on their knees, bowing to their leader. The few and only members of The Order consisted of Maikera and his daughter Kuraudia, as well as the older woman's two sons, Vucen and Walteru. The four were all in a row as they bowed before her. The older woman who stood before them, also known as Mother Daria, looked down at her followers, pleased to see that they have all come to this important gathering. However, the only one that wasn't present was…

"Maikera," Mother Daria spoke out.

"Yes, Mother Daria?" Maikera said while his head down.

"Where is... _she_?"

None can see it, but Maikera expressed a scowl that wasn't meant for Daria, but rather, at the person she was mentioning. Daria even held out a sneer when mentioning _her_.

"I sincerely apologize, Mother Daria," Maikera said to her. "She... _must've_ forgotten."

Their leader sniffed at the statement. "Hm...do remind her when you stop by her home. After all, this could be our _last_ meeting here."

"...I will," Maikera said in a dark tone.

Kuraudia and Vucen said nothing, doing their best to not show pity towards the outcast of the group. They did, however, frowned while they were bowing. Walteru was still bowing, paying his respects to his literal mother, the words and undertone not fazing him.

"Good," Mother said. "With that being said, thank you all for coming to this gathering."

"Of course, Mother Daria," Kuraudia says.

"Hm. You may all rise on your knees." The eldest member of their order commanded.

All four did as they rose from their positions onto their knees.

"Now, we are here to commemorate this day. The day God will be reborn from the womb once more. To be born from the chosen bearer of God." Daria turned her attention to Kuraudia.

Kuraudia smiled at Mother Daria, feeling privileged to be chosen. Next to her, Vucen grabbed her hand in a tender way as they both looked at each other with warmth and love.

"And as for the thirteen that are chosen to be sacrificed...they are all here as well. Five have been killed during the start of the day in the morning on the town's 'birthday'. Now only eight remain." Daria smiled at them all. "Progress is certainly coming along."

Walteru raised his hand to announce that he is about to speak. Mother glanced at her son and nodded. "You may speak, child."

The youngest son lowered his hand, and asked, "What of the Phoenix King's daughter, Azula?"

"Hmm, yes. Her appearance is rather...peculiar." Mother said rather mysteriously.

"What would her appearance mean, Mother?" Vucen asked. "Could she somehow have a role in this as well as Phoenix King Ozai?"

Daria stood at the altar, almost to be thinking. "...God has not yet revealed that to me. However, God may have a plan for her in due time."

"Really?" Asked a surprised Kuraudia. "What role could she play? Her father Ozai, as God told you, said that he would pave the road to Paradise."

"I am well aware of that, Kuraudia." Mother said to her patiently. "However, we mustn't doubt God. God could be preparing her something... _extraordinary_ within her."

"Actually, if I may ask once more, Mother," Vucen spoke up in slight confusion, "While there are supposed to be thirteen sacrifices within this sacred ground, we have a total of eighteen people here. What would happen to the others that aren't sacrificed?"

"Yes, my son, this I am aware of as well." Mother told him. "Do not worry, for if there are thirteen sacrifices on this holy ground, it will please God. The others will just simply have to see God's splendor." She smiled once more. "However, in order to bear God, you and Kuraudia must act quickly before the day ends."

Vucen and Kuraudia both looked at each other affectionately, with Vucen blushing a slight red, while Kuraudia smiled and softly giggled.

"And I reiterate, there _must_ be thirteen people dead on this sacred ground. Nothing can surpass that number until God is born." Mother reminded them.

Walteru nodded. "That is right. And it could be anyone. Even the Avatar."

"Yes...the Avatar." Mother glowered. "He failed to bring harmony into this world, as God had told me. He ran from his duties like a coward many years ago, and yet he dares to return to this world as if he still had the right and authority to do so." She then smiled crookedly. "Well, no longer shall the host of Raava interfere with God's work. Soon, his pathetic life shall be used to appease God's will."

"Indeed." Maikera nodded. "It would also be interesting to see how God will use the Avatar's emotions in this event."

"It would even be more interesting to see how God will use everyone," Kuruadia added.

"Yes. They will all play a key part in all of this. Even the ones that aren't chosen to be sacrificed, they will see the magnificence of it all...the magnificence of God." Mother said, her eyes radiating with excitement and desire. She looked back to her subjects, returning her expression to a solemn one. "Although the Phoenix King tried to burn down the Earth Kingdom, it gave God a plan for us. God has told me to bring the Phoenix King to this island so that he can be God's fiery sword to cleave down this rotten world."

"Certainly the Phoenix King will be enough to burn the whole world down when God is born. God can grant anything." Walteru nodded in admiration.

"Indeed God will...indeed God will." Mother Daria repeated assuredly with a slight smirk. "As for what God has in plan for Ozai's daughter...well, Walteru, Vucen, Kuraudia, I hereby put you three in charge of watching over her."

Vucen and Kuraudia both looked quite confused, while Walteru's eyes widened in shock.

"Um...us, Mother?" Vucen asked her curiously.

"Yes, my child. We may not know what plan God has for her, but I trust my most devoted sons _and_ my most devoted daughter-in-law to carry out this task." Daria said to them with a smile.

Kuraudia blinked at the mission that was handed to her, as well as her husband and his brother. "Um...Mother Daria, please excuse me for my questions, but...why us? Wouldn't we be safe here in the shrine from God's creations at this time? What if the sacrifices' torments will come into view in their minds and we are caught in the middle of them? Do you happen to know when God's cleansing will pass?"

"For the last question: I _do_ know when God's 'cleansing' as of today will come to pass. Since it lasts about an hour, the cleansing now will be over in about forty-five minutes. As for the first question: It is because all three of you are young and vibrant enough to do this task. For the final two: If you're all worried about your safety, then fear not, children. I will anoint you all with our sacred oil for protection against the creatures that God has made in the form of the sacrifices' torments. And once the cleansing has been completed and lifted, the sacrifices torments will still be present within their very being. From that point on, they will be living in a perpetual nightmare, as the darkest parts of their minds will come to life. God will be able to do _all_ of the rest." Mother Daria reassured.

All three of them stayed quiet, Walteru nodding to his literal mother as he listened, while Vucen and Kuraudia listened intently as well.

"Yes, of course. I understand, Mother." Kuraudia assured her.

"Good." Mother Daria then dug into her robes, pulling out a small, ornate jar. Slowly twisting off the lid, she pulled it off to reveal the contents inside. "Now, apply this onto your forehead. Not too much now. Just rub a few drops, and you shall be safe from God's servants."

As she handed her oldest son Vucen the jar, Vucen was a little hesitant to take it from her.

"...Is something wrong, my son?" Mother asked.

Vucen looked up at his mother. "Oh, um...no, I just…"

"Are you afraid of going out into God's sacred ground at this time?" Daria asked him in a slightly condescending tone. Vucen gulped as he felt all the males' eyes around him, Makera judging him, while Walteru looked at him expectedly, with his literal Mother's being the most paralyzing.

"I...of course not, Mother, I just…"

"It is alright, my love," Kuruadia reassured him as she held his hand. "If you are worried about me, then don't be. God will watch over us. We are going to birth God after all." She said in a sweet smile.

Vucen looked at his wife with pure warmth. "I do trust that God will watch over us. I just...get a little uncomfortable when we see God's servants."

"Hm." Mother hummed. "You must have _faith_ in order for the oil to work. Do not interrupt the servants' duties, and they shall leave you be. Understood? Do not touch nor communicate with God's servants, and they should all leave you alone."

The eldest son looked back at his mother, this time his eyes filled with resolve. "I will, Mother. And…" Vucen turned to his wife. "I will watch over Kuruadia. To make sure she is not harmed."

Kuruadia smiled warmly and placed her hand on his face. Vucen smiled in the same manner as well to his wife.

"I will help you along the way as well, my brother and sister," Walteru reassured them.

Vucen and Kuraudia turned to him and smiled back at him.

"Thank you, Walteru." Vucen said to him in gratitude.

Kuraudia nodded back gratefully at Walteru, who in turn smiled at them both.

"Then be off." Mother commanded. "Apply this oil and _believe_."

All three of them nodded, and this time Vucen accepted the jar. Pouring a small amount of oil on his fingers, he spread them onto his wife's forehead before his. Lastly, he put the rest of the liquid on his brother's forehead.

"Now…" Mother Daria said to all three of them. "Go."

The three younger adults stood up and turned to the exit. Vucen grabbed his wife's hand, while Kuruadia returned the gesture, affectionately giving his hand a squeeze. Walteru placed a hand on Vucen's shoulder and both brothers looked at each other. They nodded, telling each other that they can do this.

They ignited a flame in their palms as they were ready to set foot in the unnatural darkness outside.

And with that, they walked out of the shrine, and into the unknown.

When they left, only Maikera and Daria remained.

Maikera narrowed his eyes at the leaving group. "Mother Daria, will my daughter be safe?" He asked her.

Daria smiled at him. "Indeed, she will." She glanced at the floor where Vucen placed the jar. "...Do you need some of the oil as well?"

The man looked down at the jar...and suddenly felt anger as he remembered _her_. "...Yes. I apologize for...my _other_ daughter's absence."

"Do not be. It was _her_ choice," Daria said as she also looked to recall something, her eyes narrowed in hatred. "It was... _their_ choice..." She glanced at Maikera. "Do make sure she... _learns_ something when you arrive at her home. This could be, after all, our _final_ meeting here."

Maikera's expression was that of contempt, but at the same time, a smirk began to form on his face. " _Certainly._ "

* * *

" _ **Your fear made me."**_

 **12:10 PM**

* * *

Aang's eyes shot open. Jumping to his feet with Airbending, he grabbed his staff from his back and frantically looked around, searching for the voice that just spoke to him. Seeing no one around him, he began to relax.

"Hooo...that's a relie-" He then blinked, before his body straightened back up. "Wait...no one's here."

Aang looked around once more. Matter of fact...where was he? He looked around, and he realized that he was in a wooden building. It was quite dark, save for the dirty windows that would allow some light inside of the dusty area.

"I'm...all alone...all alone in this spooky, rotting building," Aang spoke to himself. Suddenly feeling cold, despite how humid it was, he began to hug himself. It's been only two minutes since he woke up, and he was already feeling lonely. Already, he missed Appa, Momo, Iroh, Zuko, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Katara. Especially Katara.

The boy Avatar sighed. "I hope they're doing alright. Or at least, I hope that they're not alone."

Suddenly he began to think about Zuko and Katara being alone together. His grip on his airbender staff began to tighten in anger. He only began to notice this when the wind began to blow all around him, causing dust and debris to surround him as well.

"ACK!" He coughed up some of the dust that was in his lungs. "Ugh! Okay, that sucked." Aang wheezed. "Alright, time to get some fresh air."

He quickly walked out of the tiny building and opened the wooden door.

 _CRASH!_

Aang leaped back in surprise as the door fell the moment he grabbed the knob. He squinted from the sudden invasion of light. Blinking spots out of his eyes, he realized that the wood around the door has long been eaten away by termite-ants and time.

"Well, I'm not a prisoner this time, so that's a step up," Aang muttered as he shrugged before he headed outside.

His eyes widened at what he saw. " _Whoa!_ "

Aang gasped at the moon in the sky. To put it into simple terms...it was huge. And when he says huge, he meant that it looked like it was way too close to the planet to be safe. Looming over the island, the moon hung in the sky, perhaps about four times bigger than it should be. Aang had to quickly check to see if the island wasn't being drowned by the ocean due to how close the moon was. To his relief and confusion, everything looked fine.

"Wow, that's odd." Aang looked around the area he was in once more.

There was another peculiar thing that he noticed in his surroundings: It was pitch black. Of course, the large moon above illuminated everything, but even on the darkest of nights, it wasn't this dark. Of course, he was usually around other people in villages or cities, where outdoor lighting was always in a surplus. Even the lower ring of Ba Sing Se had adequate lightning, but when he looked down at the village over at a cliffside, there wasn't a single lantern lit to be seen.

Aang began to feel a little more uneasy at the idea that he was completely alone. Upon realizing that he was getting nervous, he sat down in a lotus position and began to meditate.

 _In...out...in...out...in...out...in-_

"Ah, excellent. Looks like you haven't forgotten our meditation technique." A _very_ familiar voice suddenly called out to him. Aang yelped in surprise as he leaped to his feet, pointing his staff at the sudden visitor in front of him.

Aang's eyes widened at the sudden company in front of him. Hands trembling, his breath turned shaky as disbelief, grief, and wonder began to overwhelm the avatar.

"Gyatso?" Aang said in a breathless tone.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Monk Gyatso stood there in front of Aang, monk robes and all, smiling at him. Trembling, he quickly checked to see if it was an imposter by slowly poking his staff at the necklace he was wearing around his neck. When he did and saw that it moved naturally, Aang gasped. Everything about him was real. His voice, his faint herbal smell, his mustache, and even his necklace was authentic.

Aang couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears welled up in his eyes as he hugged his old friend, mentor, and father-figure.

"How?" Was all Aang could say as he choked up. Even his soft, firm robes felt the same as it did all those years ago, which made his eyes tear up even further.

Gyatso chuckled warmly. "Aang, you sure have grown."

"Is...is this real?" Aang let go of the hug and backed away, a faint smile on his lips.

Chuckling once more, Gyatso said to him. "Indeed, Aang. It's all real. _I'm_ real."

Aang's smile widened as the tears kept pouring down on his face.

"Come now Aang, there's no need for waterworks. We got all the time in the world to catch up." Gyatso walked over to a rusty bench, which was reduced to nothing more than its skeletal frame. Aang eagerly followed him there and sat down next to him. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that arose from sitting on the ruined bench, Aang began to tell his mentor all about his adventures.

* * *

 **12:40 PM**

* * *

"...and that's how I defeated Ozai and helped put Zuko on the throne!" Aang finished eagerly, panting and out of breath. He realized that he was forgetting to breathe, and had to stop to inhale some air. Gyatso smiled at this.

"Sounds like you've done some good work." He said with a nod.

"Yeah…" Aang seemed rather unsure about that statement, which made Gyatso raise an eyebrow.

"Is everything alright, Aang?" His mentor asked. "And before you deny it, remember, I know you Aang. I know when you're lying as well, so you might as well save yourself the trouble of denying it."

Aang remained silent at this, before he let out a slow, steady sigh, creating a slight breeze in front of them.

"...No, everything's not alright." Aang finally admitted. "Sure, I took away Ozai's bending, but he still has his loyal followers, and they just broke him out of prison! That's why we're here, to help bring him and Azula back where they belong. To make matters worse, Zuko sent his men to go get them, but now they could either be missing or all dead. One of them even killed himself in front of us!" Aang whitened and trembled at that part, that memory still haunting him. "And some part of me wonders if it's all my fault."

Gyatso looked at him, his smile still oddly in place. "Well, was it your fault?"

"Huh?" Aang said in slight confusion. "What?"

"I said...was it _your_ fault?"

Aang sat there next to his mentor, pondering the words that he has spoken. Looking down at the ground, he thought about everything that led up to this.

"Um…" Aang pondered about it some more.

He then felt a calm hand on his shoulder. Looking up at Gyatso, Aang gazed at him, hoping for some reassurance.

His look of hope quickly turned to confusion as he gazed at Gyatso's look of excitement and desire. It made Aang uncomfortable since Gyatso had never made this face before.

"Come on, Avatar, think. Think way back to that moment. Tell me, what led up to this moment?"

His grip tightened on Aang's shoulder, making him wince in pain.

"G-Gyatso, that kind of hurts." He whined, but Gyatso just put another hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Avatar, think! Think way back to that moment. Tell me, what led up to this moment, and tell me this: Was it _all_ your fault?"

Aang could suddenly smell smoke, and he realized that it was coming from in front of him. He looked down at Gyatso's feet, and he realized that the edges of his robes are smoking.

"G-Gyatso! Your robes are smoking!" He warned him, but Gyatso paid no heed. Instead, his smile morphed into a grin, showing off his yellow teeth. Then he started to chuckle.

"TELL ME, AANG! WAS IT **ALL YOUR** _**FAULT**_?!" He roared, as he began to shake Aang.

 _FWOOOM!_

Gyatso's robes suddenly caught on fire, making Aang yell in fear. He immediately tried to pull away, but Gyatso just tightened his grip. Aang began to yell in pain and fear as his fingers began to dig into his flesh.

"Gyatso, please!" Aang pleaded, but the man in front of him ignored his cries.

Something began to smell, and Aang had to force himself not to throw up. To his horror, he realized that it was the smell of Gyatso's flesh burning, and it smelled just like cooked meat, but just...wrong.

" _ **WAS IT ALL YOUR FAULT?!**_ " Gyatso's face was now one of a madman's grin, even as the flames began to lick his face. His flesh immediately began to burn, red turning into brown, then into charred black. His eyeballs began to melt, the gooey liquid running down his body along with blood.

"AAH!" Aang screamed as blood began to seep out of his shoulders.

 _WOOOSH!_

Gyatso was blasted back by Aang's airbending sending him flying into the rotten cabin. Aang fell onto his rear, clutching his wounded shoulders as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

 _ **CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.**_

Aang looked up to see that the cabin was now ablaze, no doubt from Gyatso's-or whatever that thing was-burning body was touching it. But what really horrified Aang was that he realized that he wasn't alone anymore.

As he turned to his left, there suddenly stood an army of Airbenders. Just like Gyatso, they were all on fire as well, their flesh cooking and burning as it fell off of them. Despite some of them having nothing left to burn, their bones remained on fire, and despite having no eyes, he could feel their glare on him.

" **WhY dI** _ **d**_ **YO** _ **u**_ **leAve uS, Aa** _ **ng**_ **?"** One of the little ones asked, and he realized to his despair and horror that it was a young Airbender, a child no doubt.

" **You ab** _A_ **ndoned** _U_ **s, Avatar."** One of the elder ones groaned. " **You left Us to dIe, Aang. You left us to burn, while you were rUn** _N_ **inG aWay from your responsibilities."**

" **You're nothIng buT a sELfish brat, A** _A_ **ng,"** Gyatso stepped out of the burning cabin. His flesh was all gone, eaten away by the raging inferno, but his robes and his necklace remained. "Y **oU** L **E** F **t because YOU're just a B** r **AT who refused to listen to others. I trusted you, Aang. We** _ **all**_ **did, and lOOk what happened."**

"No, no!" Aang closed his eyes, and placed his hands over his ears, trying to block out their voices.

" **And now YOu're gOing to run awAy from your friends."** A young girl moaned. " **You're going to abandon them too when they needed you most. After all, that's what you do best."**

"NO! I won't!" Aang shouted, tears running down his face.

" **It's o** _ **k**_ **ay, Aang,"** Gyatso said calmly. " **We're hEre now. WE can stAy heRe TOgether, and you can keep playing your games with us. Come, Aang, join us."**

" **Join us."** The burning skeletons groaned in unison. " **Join us. Join us.** _ **Join us**_ **.** _ **Join us**_ **.** _**Join us**_."

Aang couldn't take it anymore. He turned around, and he ran away from the mob of dead-looking airbenders and Gyatso, his weak legs suddenly roaring to life.

" **Come back Aang!"** Gyatso groaned. " **DOn't leave us again!"**

" **DOn't leAve us!"** The other airbenders shrieked. " **Don't leave us!"**

Aang could only shut his eyes as he kept on running, tears running down his face. Somehow those words hurt a lot more than his shoulders did.

' _What'shappeningwhat'shappeningwhat'shappeningwhat'shappening?!'_ Aang's mind went blind with panic, unsure of anything anymore. Who was that? What were they? How were they here? What did they want? And did he want to know the answer?

Everything became a blur as he ran as fast as the wind. The trees warped and began to cave in as he ran down the dusty path. The world turned blurry and dark as the undead continued calling out to him. Aang kept running as he went down the path that led him to the town. He didn't really even know where he was going, but he hoped _they_ were far behind him.

So he ran, ran, and _ran_. Just like that fateful day, when he last saw his people. Just _exactly_ like that fateful day, when he abandoned the Air Nation.

However, what Aang didn't know, was that the path he was taking, this path towards the town of 'Silent Hills'...would be the beginning of his downward spiral into madness.

* * *

 **12:50 PM**

* * *

It seemed like ages before he had to stop. His stamina depleted and his adrenaline finally running low, he had no choice but to stop to catch his breath.

" _Hah,_ _hah,_ _hah._ Oh, man."

After gulping in breaths of air, Aang's mind calmed down enough to finally register his current surroundings. Aang finally realized that he was standing in front of an empty fountain, which looked old, rotted, and broken.

Aang then flinched, afraid to turn around to see if he had gained some distance between...whatever those things were. Gulping in a deep breath, he quickly whirled around-and nearly dropped his staff.

"Wha-what?" Stuttered Aang as he looked behind him, his mouth dropping at what he was seeing. To his relief, the blazing undead didn't seem to be behind him. Matter of fact, it seemed that he had lost them a long time ago.

However, that wasn't what made Aang's eyes widen in shock.

Aang remembered the old times before he, well, ran away from the Airbending Temples. He had to help repaint the temple walls after a rather hot season. The sun had severely damaged the paint, which caused them to peel off the walls. Aang remembered how he had so much fun tearing off that paint with his fellow benders by hand, making it rain paint chips onto the ground.

Well now, those "paint chips" were sticking themselves back onto the object they were torn from. Aang watched in amazement as the buildings, which were stripped bare from its skeletal frames, are slowly being put back together as the wood, paint, and stones leisurely flew back onto its intended area. Within a minute, the once destroyed town was now put back together by an otherworldly force. While the town did still look abandoned and bare, it at least didn't look like it was destroyed from a fire, leaving behind its charred skeleton.

Thinking about the burnt buildings made Aang remember the things he had just encountered.

' _Gyatso…'_ Aang fell onto his knees, trembling with sadness and fear. He wanted to meditate, but he was afraid that Gyatso and his army would return to haunt him. Unsure of what to do, he sat on the ground and hugged his knees as he began to rock back and forth, his teeth chattering like beepeckers in the forest.

Is he okay? Did his eyes deceive him? Did what he just saw was even real? Was everything around him even…

"Are you okay, young man?" Something grabbed his shoulder as a voice came from behind him.

"AAAHHH!"

Aang sprang upward with his airbending about five feet into the air, frightened as the sudden sound and touch. When he landed on his two feet, he quickly turned around, alert and afraid of who might have snuck up on him.

"Woah there, my bad." The man said, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. You just seemed a little lost, so I thought I would try to help you."

After everything Aang just went through, he couldn't help but feel a little on edge. Narrowing his eyes, he kept his staff pointed at the man in front of him.

The man stood only a few inches taller than Aang, which didn't help with his sense of unease. He only began to relax when he noticed the man's dark skin color, which did remind him of the water tribe people, save for his odd uniform.

"What's in that bag?" Aang couldn't help but ask. The man let out a small chuckle.

"Well, if you're looking for gold, young man, you'll be sorely disappointed." To prove his point, the man opened his large bag and revealed a bunch of scrolls and letters. "I'm just a simple mail carrier here. Again, I'm not looking for trouble. I just wanted to know if you're doing alright."

Aang blinked before he blushed at the silent accusation.

"O-oh no, I'm not a thief! I just...well…" Aang's embarrassed mood quickly soured back into his darker ones. "Well, you wouldn't believe me anyways."

"Hm, I see." The man stroked his bearded chin, which was noticeably greying out. "Look, I won't pry, since it's none of my business, but I'm assuming that you've seen some disturbing things, yes?"

Aang simply nodded, unsure of where this was going. He subconsciously braced himself to fight or run, in case this man exploded into flames as well.

"Hmm," The man hummed as he nodded. "Well, I don't blame you," He went over to the broken fountain and sat on the circular ledge of it. "This town..." the man sighed solemnly, "Used to be a place to relax and cheer up. Not that different from Ember Island, from what little we hear. Families, friends, politicians, everybody would visit this island to have fun. Unfortunately, time takes away everything, and this place turned from an island of paradise to an island of sin."

Aang stood there in silence, staring at the mail carrier. "...What happened?"

"It got too popular. Many deviants decided to do terrible deeds, prostitutes began infesting the town, and even illegal dealers came here to do business." The man frowned, remembering the times.

Aang frowned as well upon hearing that. "I'm...sorry."

The man shook his head with a slight chuckle. "You didn't do anything to cause it, young man. It's just how life is sometimes."

' _Life…'_ Even though he heard that last part, Aang couldn't help but disagree with the man on him not causing anything. While he wasn't the cause for this island's declining tourism, he did let _a lot_ of things happen while he was sleeping in that iceberg...like his whole people being annihilated.

Images of undead rotting corpses of his airbending kind came back to his mind. Aang shook his head to rid himself of those horrid thoughts.

The man then got up from his seat. "Well, break time's over. I need to deliver some mail. A mailman's work is never done." He smiled at Aang. "You be good now, okay?"

Aang looked at him peculiarly. "Wait...you're a mailman, right?"

The said mailman chuckled. "Didn't I just say that I was? At least I thought I did. I hope my old age isn't making me forget things so easily now. That wouldn't be good for my job."

"Oh, uh, no, you said you were a mailman. I'm just...confused as to why you're delivering mail in an abandoned town?" Aang explained.

"Oh, well, there are still some people here. You just haven't seen them yet." The man said cryptically.

"Haven't seen them?" Aang asked, raising a brow.

"Mm-hmm. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." The mailman began to walk away from the fountain and Aang.

Aang called out to him. "Wait! What's your name?"

The man stopped. "Oh, that's right! We haven't introduced ourselves, have we? Heh, I _am_ getting old." He turned to the airbender with a smile. "I apologize. The name's Zhong, kid. Zhōng Xìng Xiān, but everybody just calls me Zhong. And you are?"

"Um...Aang."

"Well then, Aang, I'll see you around." Zhong nodded at him with the same, kind smile, and turned around to walk back into the foggy town. The fog enveloped him, his figure nothing but a black silhouette as he went further into the mist.

Aang watched the mailman disappear until he was alone once more.

"Huh...that was strange," Aang muttered.

Putting up his staff on his back, he looked around his area again, his eyes lingering on the buildings, which, while abandoned and decrepit, now didn't look like it was burnt from the inside out.

"Hm?" Aang looked back at the fountain, and to his confusion, found it to be full of water. He walked up to the fountain and stared down at the water that was inside it. He sees his reflection in it, and he suddenly reminded him of...

' _You abandoned us, **Avatar!'** _The image of Gyatso in the water roared back at him, his eyes full of hatred.

Aang blanched as he closed his eyes and shook his head to clear the voice and image his mind. He looked down at the water once more.

He can only see his reflection in the fountain.

Deciding not to think about that memory any further, he began to look around to see where he was at.

As he observed his surroundings, he saw that he was back in town, in some sort of a gathering area with a dead fountain in the middle of it.

Aang frowned, "Well...I suppose I could try to find my friends..." he said to himself.

' _ **And you're going to turn away from your friends. You're going to abandon them when they need you the most. After all, that's what you do best.'**_

Shaking his head, he rejected those hurtful words in his mind that came out of that _dead_ airbender's mouth. No matter how much he tries to shrug it off, the words still stung. Aang stood there, fists clenched in frustration as he stared at the ground, his eyes filled with grief. Tears almost started to form in them, but he held back the waterworks.

"No...crying about it won't solve anything...and...I won't leave, nor will I turn away from my friends…especially Katara." Aang consoled himself.

He looked up and stared at the fountain, the structure filled with water.

' _Maybe I can get my mind off of it with a little bit of waterbending,'_ Aang thought. He then took a deep, steady breath, before going into a stance. Closing his eyes, he slowly lifted his arms, feeling his chi flow through his veins.

Aang heard the familiar sound of the water bending to his will, a stream of water rising from the fountain. He guided his arms through his hands to move slowly and elegantly, feeling the power rush through every blood vessel in his body.

 _In...out...in...out._

" **Aang."**

A vision of another dead Airbender suddenly popped into his mind, and he froze. The tendrils of water orbiting him began to collapse, and he shook his head.

' _No, no, can't think about that.'_ Aang pleaded to himself. He decided to try and think of something more pleasant, something beautiful, something...comforting.

Something...tantalizing…

' _Katara…'_

He thought about how she moved her body around when she bends. It was a sight to behold, one that he never noticed until now. How she gracefully moved her body as she bent the water to her will…

He tried to mimic that as he thought about her. He closed his eyes and lifted his arms again, the chi coming back to him as it flowed through his body. Using his arms and moving them around like Katara does, he guided his arm movements as he can hear the soft sounds of water being manipulated. The peaceful movements soon relaxed him…

' _Katara...she really is beautiful. And the way she moves when she bends. It's...I can't describe it. It's...gorgeous? Yeah...gorgeous. The way she moves is gorgeous._ She's _gorgeous. Her face, her skin...her_ body _. It's all..._ **mine** _.'_

"Hello?"

Aang's eyes snapped open in surprise, and all focus was lost, his grace and form destroyed as the water fell from the air with a splash.

"Huh?"

What he saw in the distant fog was another silhouette, this one being a woman's. She was walking towards him through cautious steps, which made Aang relax a bit, seeing that she doesn't appear to be hostile.

He was, however, still on edge, given the entire episode that he just went through.

The woman came in closer and made herself present in front of Aang.

She looked beautiful to begin with, looking to be in her early twenties. Her long raven hair was down and her face had pretty feminine angular features, as well as having lush lips. She was wearing a red tunic and brown pants, and loafer shoes. She also has a delicate frame, making her look like she could easily fall over if she was ever knocked over harshly.

"Oh! H-Hello! You're...you're a young man," The woman said in slight shock.

"Uh...yes?" Aang answered, quite confused by her reaction. "Who are you?"

The woman's eyes widened. "I... " She looked around the area they were in, almost as if trying to find someone. "I'm...I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that."

Aang looked at her quizzically. "Huh? Why's that?"

"Well...someone is looking for me…" She shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, ar-are you lost?"

"Uh...I guess I am." Aang looked down as he rubbed the back of his head in uncertainty. He then suddenly looked up. "Oh, actually, I'm trying to find my friends! Do you know who or where they are? Two of them are from the Southern Water Tribes. Their names are Sokka and Katara! Then there's a little blind, earthbending girl named Toph, who wears green like the older girl with warrior make-up named Suki. Then there's the two guys from the Fire Nation, the first one being an old guy named Iroh, while the other guy with a scar on his face is named...wait," Aang paused a second to think about it for a moment. "Actually, you know who my friends are, right? And...you know who I am, right? I'm the Avatar! My name's Aang! You must've heard of us! Oh! I totally forgot! The one with the scar is named Zuko, and he's now the new Fire Lord!"

The woman looked at him as if he just grew another head. "Uh...I'm sorry. Aang, is it? While I'm glad you didn't come here alone, I...don't know anything about what you were talking about."

Aang froze as he blinked. "What?"

"I mean...well...on giving you information, I've lived on this island ever since I can remember." The woman uttered. "I never once left, and we don't really get a lot of visitors, so we're pretty isolated out here."

"Really?" Aang raised a curious brow. "Wait, so...you never, like, left the island at all at one point?"

The woman shook her head. "No…"

"Oh...huh..." Aang found that a little bizarre. "...and you don't know who I'm talking about?"

The woman gave him a forlorn expression, "No, young man, I really don't."

"Oh..." Aang frowned, "Well...Have you seen anybody anywhere lately that looked like what I described?"

The woman shook her head, giving him the same sad expression. "I'm sorry, young man, I haven't seen any of them."

"Oh…" Aang lowered his head down in disappointment.

The woman felt pity for him and thought about it for a moment. "Well…maybe I _can_ tell you my name. That way, if you're looking for me, you'll know it."

Aang looked up at her with a smile. "Okay. That works."

Smiling at that, the woman said, "In that case, my name is Risa."

"Okay! Hi, Risa!" Aang said with a grin, "It's good to know somebody else is nice around here in this town."

Risa's smile dropped. "Somebody else?"

"Well, yeah! The mailman around here! I think his name is...Zhong? Either way, he told me what happened here long ago. How it used to be an island resort..." Aang then frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that it turned into such a bad place, though."

Risa blinked at what Aang said, "The...mailman?"

"Yeah, the mailman..." Aang looked at her oddly as he raised a brow in curiosity, "Zhong? He's your mailman."

The woman just looked at Aang as if he just told her that there was such a thing as an actual 'bear'. Then she said, "Oh...I...didn't know we have a mailman in town."

Aang blinked in confusion, "Wait...you didn't?"

"Well, maybe that's because I never had any mail coming over my way...actually, I don't think any of us receive mail here, even outside of the island."

The boy Avatar still looked confused, almost at a loss at what he just heard, "Oh...well, I-I did meet him a while ago."

Risa stood silent for a couple of seconds to process this until she said, "Okay..." she looked as if she was bothered by that info...

Aang felt a little uncomfortable about how this conversation was going and decided to ask her. "So...you really don't know what's going on out in the world? Like, at all? Not even through mail, news scrolls, or anything?"

That seemed to snap her back into it, "Oh, well...Mother Daria said we shouldn't really be associated with the outside world as it's filled with sin and evil."

The boy frowned at that statement. "Oh..." Aang blinked, "Wait, Mother Daria? Who's she?"

"Oh, she's our high priestess. Only she knows what's going on in the outside world."

"She does?" Aang asked as he scratched his bald head in puzzlement, "Wait, so...there are more people here? And this 'Mother Daria' tells you and everyone else what goes on in the world? How would she be able to do that when you said that you and everyone else are isolated here?"

"Well, yes. My sister, her husband, his brother, and-" Risa's eyes widened as she seems to remember something. However, she shook her head and quickly said, "A-Anyway, Mother Daria knows what goes on in the outside world because she has a gift placed upon her by God."

Aang noticed that she stopped naming people a little too abruptly. He also took note of something else "...Um...God?" he asked curiously.

"Oh! It's who we worship! God is an all-powerful being that can save us all from our sins! We serve God here on the island, as God spoke to Mother Daria of what goes on in the world."

"Oh...um..." Aang looked a little uneasy all of a sudden, "Okay...so...God is...an all-powerful being? Like a, um...really strong spirit?"

Risa paused for a second on that, "...I...think so?" she looked down on the ground in deep thought.

Aang raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

Risa looked up with an unsure expression, "Well...to tell you the truth, I don't know much about God myself. God tells Mother Daria everything that happens and she only tells her trusted followers what God has told her...except me."

Blinking, Aang asked, "Except you? Why's that?"

"...I really don't know," Risa said with a frown, "But I'm trying my best to earn her respect. I want her to tell me what God has planned for all of us. What I can do to help...no one else tells me what she says, not even my sister, her husband, and his brother. And my sister, her husband, and I are close..." her words died there, her eyes showing alertness as she suddenly looked uneasy. She glanced around the area again, "I'm sorry, I, um, I have to go."

"You do? Why?" Aang asked her in confusion.

Risa turned to the boy, "I-I'm trying to-" she paused, wondering if she could say what she's about to say. She looked around her once more, and whispered to him, "I'm...trying to evade someone."

Aang frowned, "You are? What happened? You're not in trouble, are you?"

Risa looked at the boy with wide eyes. "N-No, I-!" She exclaimed a little frantically, which resulted in her covering her mouth to quiet herself.

Aang blinked. "...Are...you sure?"

"I'm sorry. I...um... " Risa paused. "...Aang, if you...see someone, and his name is...Maikera, then...don't tell him that you saw me."

Aang frowned again. "Who is he?"

Risa remained silent.

Something made Aang think that this Maikera was bad news. "Do you...want me to help you with this Maikera guy?"

Shocked that he would suggest that, she shook her head. "No, I...this is my problem. I can't get you involved in it."

"But...I'm the Avatar," Aang reasoned, "I can help anybody!"

Risa shook her head again. "No…I don't think you can help me...or even him."

"But-"

"Look, Aang, I have to go. I...need to go somewhere…" Risa then began walking past Aang.

"Wait!" Aang grabbed her arm to stop her. "Maybe I can talk some sense into him! Just tell me what's wrong."

"Aang…" Risa muttered as she shook her head. "You're so young. You have a whole life ahead of you."

Confused, Aang tried to reason with her. "Look, maybe I can go with-"

"No, Aang!" She said sternly, surprising the boy. She frowned, feeling guilty for snapping at him. "I…" She gave a sigh. "...I'm sorry. This is...this really _is_ my fault. I did this to myself," she looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please...don't be involved in my affairs. Just go find your friends..." Risa looked a little uncertain for a moment, but she then held a resolved look on her face and nodded. She looked at Aang, "But...if you do want someone to talk to…" She thought about what to say next, "Then come look for me in the Beru District. My house is there. It's past the river on the north side of the town," Risa gave him a worried look. "Also...be careful around here. This place can be...it can be dangerous."

Aang looked at her for a moment, conflicted. But upon hearing that caution, he said, "I know...I've...ran into some scary stuff myself."

"Well, whatever you do, if you see anything that...that doesn't look right, then you run away from it as far as you can. Even if something is _off_ , you just _run_ away from it," Risa told him.

He winced at the word _run._ Aang knew she didn't mean it like that, but the word almost stung. It made him think back about...he shook his head and said to her, "Uh...okay. I'll try...but what about you?"

Risa smiled. "I only have one thing to avoid…" She looked around a bit more. "I have to go now. It's very nice meeting you, Aang."

"Um...it was nice meeting you too," Aang said, a little sad that he has to leave this person to whatever she has to fight for. He'll also be alone again when she leaves…

Risa smiled warmly, "Don't worry. I'm certain we'll cross paths again. And I also hope you find your friends...just...don't let yourself be lost in-" her smile faltered a bit, "...This town."

Once Aang's hand has weakened his grip on her arm, she let it slip out of Aang's reach, "Well...until we meet again. Goodbye, Aang."

Aang frowned, "Goo-...Goodbye."

With that, the woman then turned around and walked back into the fog, her figure clouding inside the mist.

The Avatar watched her go, feeling quite empty somehow.

He shook his head and sighed forlornly, "Okay...I guess...I have to find my friends now on my own...by myself." He looked around the area he was in. "...In this really weird and scary town…"

With that, Aang walked to whatever direction he thought he was going. He was thinking north, and he hoped he was going north…either way, he has to find them…

And especially Katara.

He shook his head. He then walked off into the fog…

...He really missed Katara…

...Her pretty face…

...Her long flowing hair...it was so beautiful when it framed her face...

...Her skin...her arms were...toned...he wished he could see her legs...

...And her curves. And her...chest...it wasn't big like Suki's, but he wanted it either way…

 _All of her._

The boy Avatar stopped...

...He needed to get rid of these thoughts.

 _...Now._

He glanced to his left and through the fog, he began to make out what look like an alley. He rushed a little closer and saw that it was, in fact, an alley...

Good. It was someplace for him to...

Spirits, he has to make this quick.

He went inside the alleyway...

* * *

Aang shakily exited out the alley. He panted, feeling quite flushed as he washed his hands with what little water he could muster from the fog with waterbending, and soon with the same water, he washed his face. While he did relieve himself of his hunger for the moment, his feelings were now replaced by guilt and shame.

' _I'm...I'm so sorry…'_

As soon his hands were clean, he looked down at them - his left hand more particularly - for a moment, trying to decide whether to slap himself or to cut it off. Shaking his head, he swallowed as he tried to not think about it.

He needed to find his friends.

' _That's right...my_ friends _.'_

 _Just_...his friends.

With that, he continued on into the fog.

He kept venturing on into the fog as he walked where he would think north was

He kept walking...and walking...and walking…

About five minutes later, he still kept walking.

' _Please let me find them soon...or let me find anyone else, really. I just need some help.'_ Aang thought, hoping a deity will hear his desperate calls in his mind. ' _I hope I'm not going around in circles...'_

Just as he was about to feel like he was going around in circles, he felt like he should rest his legs for a bit...

Until he spotted someone in the distance.

He paused in his walking.

"Huh?" Aang squinted his eyes at the figure.

The figure just stood there, not moving.

"Hello?" Aang called out.

Cautiously, he began to step forward, his posture relaxed, yet ready for battle, should this next stranger be hostile.

As Aang got closer, the fog dematerialized just enough to see that he was near a railing barrier, and to the left was an entrance to a wooden bridge. Despite the fog, he could still see the outline of someone standing there in front of the railings.

When he got close enough to see the figure, her flowing brown hair instantly made him think of one person.

"Katara?!"

The person turned around…and Aang blushed.

This someone was, indeed, a girl, and from first glance, this girl looked a lot like...

"Katara?" the girl said with a smirk. "Well, you're close. However, I don't know anyone that goes by that name."

Aang blinked.

This woman really did look like Katara, from her hair, her water tribe clothing, right down to her skin tone. However, upon closer inspection, this was definitely NOT Katara.

For one, this Katara look-alike was at his height level, maybe a bit shorter than him by an inch. For the other, her eyes were strangely green, instead of the typical water tribe blue. And finally, she was...well, slightly curvier and a lot beefier than Katara. His eyes couldn't help but gaze at her hips and legs, noticing that her legs in the dark blue pants she was wearing were filled in nicely, almost tight looking. They were simply plumper than Katara's. Even her hair had no accents to it, no loops, no nothing. And her chest was very full...

He blanched and shook his head. What was he doing?! That was _really_ inappropriate, looking at a lady like that!

"See something you like?"

Aang stood straight in shock as he remembered there was a beautiful girl in front of him. He blushed profusely. "I-I-uh, I was, um, I-uh, I'm-I'm, I mean-"

The stranger giggled. "Aw, aren't you cute?"

Aang gulped and shivered. _'Gosh, even her voice sounded like Katara!'_ He wondered if they were related somehow?

He shook his head to clear any thoughts that would distract him and asked her. "U-Uh…w-who are you?"

The girl smirked once more. "The name's Kara. What's your name, handsome?"

* * *

 **End of Chapter 8**

* * *

 **That cliffhanger was there for a reason! D: It's so you can all ponder on who this supposed Kara person is! ^^;**

 **But yeah, a few things to say:**

 **Members of The Order and the prisoners will have some type of screen-time, so this story will feature some scenes of these (somewhat) original characters, but not all the time. And if you haven't figured it out by now, these original characters are based on their Silent Hill counterparts, so they are kind of essential to the story, per se. Also, it wouldn't be Silent Hill without The Order being present...somewhere. XP But yeah, the Gaang will come in contact with these characters soon. ^^;**

 **About Zhong...tell me who in the SH franchise does he remind you of? ;D ...No really, do all of you know? :/**

 **And about Aang's...problem, well...that's part of being a growing boy, really. I mean...yeah. Thankfully, we(Lucius and I) didn't show you too much of how Aang got rid of his problem...seriously, do you all even know what I'm talking about? ^^;**

 **So there ya go! Aang has been in the Otherworld and saw his worse nightmares come to life! As for when the Otherworld will come and go...well, first off, the Nightmare World is a place where one remembers their darkest and deepest memory coming into fruition. The Fog World, which they were in, is like a bridge that connects to their objective reality to their subjective reality, meaning the Fog World is more of the state where a person is awake in the town, but are also in a conscious sleep in their mind, which the monsters that appear in town in the Fog World are created by people's emotions and feelings they feel every day. The Otherworld, as you can see, awakes their deepest and darkest feelings that are bottled up and kept secret. And each monster and version of their Nightmare World will be different for the other person who enters Silent Hill. So much different, in fact, that some monsters that one person will see, will not be the same monsters that the other person will see.**

 **Other than that, the town basically 'decides' when the Otherworld comes and goes. Also, there are TWO stages of the Otherworld that you'll see soon enough. ;)**

 **But yeah, hope that makes sense. ^^; There are some interesting theories on Youtube that talk about this type of stuff! :D**

 **So how was the chapter? Was it interesting? Do tell me with a review! Or a fave and a follow! Everything works, really! XD Next chapter will be a look into Katara, Toph, and back at Aang's situations!**

 **Also, I have to give thanks to Lucius for helping me out with this! I appreciate it, man! :D Until then, keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **-TSP**


	10. 9: Trapped

**= Katara =**

 **12:00 PM**

* * *

Katara woke up with a start.

Drenched in cold sweat, she gasped in fright as she shot up, breathing heavily.

"*Huff,* *huff,* *huff.*"

Katara couldn't remember the nightmare she had. The only thing she could remember was her running for her life from something, followed by a lot of screaming, and then the infinite cold that consumed her.

She blinked as her hands groped at something soft from underneath her. Now fully awake, she began to really look around her surroundings.

' _I'm on...a bed?'_ Katara thought. ' _But I was just outside when we all fell asleep...who could've dragged me in here?'_

The idea of unknown people dragging her into this dark room greatly unsettled her. She looked around again, and finally noticed just how dark it was in the room. The only reason why she was able to see her own hands was because of the single candle on the nightstand to her right.

Katara, a little creeped out by the sudden poor lighting in this room, looked forward to see that a closed sliding door was in her way of leaving this room. She sniffed, smelling something in the air.

It smelled like...herbal medicine?

' _An infirmary.'_ Katara realized.

"Hello?" Katara asked out loud.

Silence.

"..." Katara swung her legs over the bed, slowly getting off of it. Her face twitching, she let out a rather loud sneeze, her nose irritated from the amount of dust in the room. Standing in the room, she looked behind her, only now just realizing how old the room was. She also saw a window behind her as well…which showed that it was dark as night outside.

"Strange." Katara muttered. A shiver ran up her spine, and she had enough. Grabbing the candleholder, she wasted no time leaving her room, but not after checking it for some supplies.

Finding nothing to her disappointment, she quickly checked her waist for her water pouch, and found it there, much to her relief - and surprise.

"Huh. That's _very_ strange." Katara muttered to herself again. If she _was_ actually captured, she wouldn't still have her water pouch.

Deciding to just be happy that she has water nearby for her to bend, she took one last look in the room before she glanced at the door.

' _It doesn't matter right now. My friends are in trouble, and I have to find them, wherever they might be.'_ She thought with determination.

Sliding open the door, Katara poked her head outside of the room and looked to her left and right. All she could see was pure darkness through each side of the hall, which made her feel a bit uneasy.

' _Why is everything so pitch black? Is there no lighting around here?'_ Katara thought to herself as she cautiously left the room. Upon coming out of it, she noticed two things:

One, the wooden floor she was stepping on was somewhat hollow, meaning that she was definitely above the first floor.

Secondly, to be quite blunt, these halls were a _mess_. The door across from her looked beaten and dirty, as if some mischievous spirits had banged and thrown dirt at it. And that was just the good one. The rest were either clearly broken and splintered, with some looking like it was kicked down violently, or they were rotten.

From what little lighting her candle offered, she also discovered that the white paint on the walls were peeling. She was no building expert, but she could tell that these walls looked to be at least a century old, with no one around to care for the building.

Katara grimaced. ' _Sheesh, this place definitely needs a makeover. This infirmary looks like it hasn't been used in years.'_

She then made the mistake of looking at the floors, which did not look much better. Dust, debris, and fluids of unknown origin were splattered across the floor, with dank, black spots becoming quite the norm in the wooden floorboards underneath her feet.

Shaking her head, Katara reminded herself to comment on the poor conditions later, and to put her attention on leaving the filthy area.

"Okay, I'm gonna choose right, because that's the right way…" She sighed at her poor attempt at humor. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Sokka was here right now. He sure knew how to destroy the mood." Glancing at the second hallway for a moment, she began to walk down the right.

If Katara was being completely honest, she was still afraid of the dark. Growing up, she had to eventually conquer that fear, especially when she had to sleep under the stars for a while on her journey with Aang. However, that was with adequate lighting, whether it came from the town/city lights, or whether it came from the moon and the stars way up in the sky. Now, she was surrounded by the infinite darkness, save for the meager amount of lighting that came from her candle, which, in her opinion, was melting a little too quickly for her liking.

' _I wonder if this is what Toph sees everyday.'_ She frowned, thinking about her blind friend. ' _I wonder if it was ever terrifying for her, before she learned to see with her earthbending.'_

 _CREAK_.

The hairs on the back of her neck rose up as she froze, hearing the floorboards groan under the weight of a foreign presence. Trembling, she slowly began to look around, aiming her candle at the dark, as if it would've protected her from whatever was in the unknown.

"H-hello?" Katara asked weakly, feeling quite weak to the knees.

Nothing.

Her lips trembling, she fought the urge to scream as she took another step forward, praying that nothing would start running towards her.

 _CREAK_.

Katara froze again-and then looked down. She realized that the sound was coming from her foot as it touched the rotting floorboards. Upon realizing this, she let out an audible sigh of relief, before she let out a small giggle.

"Oh spirits, I just scared myself." Katara let out a weak grin. She staggered over to the wall, before sitting down on a piece of a broken wall. "Spirits, I need to calm down."

She placed a hand on her forehead to calm herself, feeling more cold sweat on her face. Letting out a quiet sigh, she rubbed her face to try to relax herself.

' _Okay, easy Katara. You're okay. There's nothing out there or in here, it's just all in your head.'_ She then remembered the Fire Nation soldier, who was babbling nonsense before cutting his own throat. She shivered at that thought, remembering just how much blood there was-

' _No, no! Stop thinking about that!'_ Katara scolded herself. ' _Okay, just...relax. Deep breaths.'_

Leaving the South Pole to journey the world with Aang has taught her many things, both the good and the ugly. Sure, she never picked up his vegetarian diet, but she did pick up some basic meditation techniques, which she was finally thankful for.

' _In...out...in...out.'_

After a few minutes of meditation, Katara finally felt relaxed enough to start thinking again.

' _Okay, let's go over what just happened. We fell asleep, then we heard those sirens. Then I woke up in the infirmary room, and I think that someone put me there.'_

Katara's thoughts paused at the last detail. Something had just occurred to the waterbender.

' _Someone dragged me in here. Could Aang and the others be here too?'_

 _CREAK._

Katara quickly straightened her posture, and got up from her seat.

' _...That was NOT me!'_ Katara realized in horror.

"H-Hello!?" She called out, keeping her tone leveled as best as she could. While her left hand was holding the candle-holder, her right hand slowly traveled to her water pouch, prepared to defend herself if needed.

 _CREAK._

Katara stood there, waiting for the enemy to make its move first. Her knuckles were turning white as her fists trembled. Her fingers pressed down painfully onto the cold metal of the candle holder, the pain helping her stay focused.

 _CREAK. CREAK. CREAK. CREAK. CREAK._

A trickle of cold sweat ran down her face. Katara made no movement to wipe it away, fearing that the one second of distraction would cost her her life.

 _CREAK. CREAK. CREAK. CREAK. CREAK. CREAAAAK._

Katara let out an audible gulp, before composing herself. She decided that instead of letting the fight come to her, she would bravely take the fight to them-or whatever was approaching her. Licking her dry lips, she slowly started to walk into the darkness.

 _CREAK. CREAK. CREAK._

 _THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._

The noise kept growing closer, and the waterbender swore that her heart was beating so loudly that even whatever was coming towards her could hear it. Nonetheless, she pushed forward, refusing to turn around and run like prey.

Unfortunately, her courage did nothing to lessen the fear. The closer and closer she got, the footsteps grew louder-

-Until it stopped.

Katara held her breath.

Silence enshrouded the hall.

Feeling lightheaded, Katara had to release her breathe, and suddenly, she realized just how terribly loud her breathing was.

' _Come on...come out already!'_ Katara nearly screamed. Her brows tight-knitted, her mind could do nothing but focus on what was coming towards her from the darkness.

A few more seconds passed…

...Then another.

She decided to take a few more cautious steps-then froze when she something within the candle's light.

Her eyes widened.

The candle's light began to dance and flicker, as if enjoying the young woman's suffering. Suddenly, the candle seemed to be working much better, illuminating more of the hallway than before. As her arm moved to the right, something caught her attention on the right side of the hall.

Sticking out of an opened door frame were a pair of human legs. Twitching, the legs were hardly moving, and to make matters worse, it was bleeding profusely.

Her fear now forgotten, Katara rushed to check on this poor person - and then stopped. Stopping in her tracks, she paused to really look at the legs.

Something was wrong. The legs, while human, just didn't _look_ right. The legs were stark white. Katara initially dismissed it, thinking it was from the bloodloss, but upon closer examination, even the legs looked much too white for it to have been from blood loss. No, the legs looked almost...artificial?

"What?" Katara quietly said as she went closer to them.

But that was her first mistake.

The legs suddenly jerked to life as they were lifted up, retreating from her view. Startled, Katara gave out a loud gasp as she almost dropped her candle.

Then what she saw next was something that nobody could've prepared her for.

 _CREAK. CREAK. CREAK._

Katara heard those same, damned footsteps coming from the room...

And then _it_ came out of the room to reveal itself.

Katara's eyes widened even further, her face contorted in horror.

She screamed.

What stood before her was NOT human. What stood before her was a twisted, mockery of one. It's pale, milky skin glowed like the moonlight, with none of the comfort that it gave. Blood- human, if she was correct, oozed out of its pores and cuts, dripping and plopping on the floor below. This...THING, appeared to be made out of flesh, despite its artificial look, as evident by the wounds it sustained. It had one large, nasty cut that ran along its right leg, revealing torn and rotting tissue and muscle, with worms already wriggling within the fleshy hole.

But that honestly wasn't the worst part of this human-like creature. No, it had no head. Actually, it had no upper body at all. This creature was very spider-like, with no visible eyes or head, and with no limbs except for legs. It's upper body was the mirror image of its lower: Just legs.

And they were _moving_. Both legs were _MOVING_.

Trembling, Katara began to back away from the monster, only to trip over a broken door.

CRASH!

Katara fell backwards onto the door, the noise echoing loudly in the hall. To her horror, the candle, which was still somehow on fire, rolled towards the monster. It's bottom legs paused as the fire got closer to its foot. The other pair of legs on its top were flailing around, kicking the air fruitlessly as it tried to balance itself.

Seeing that it was distracted, Katara took the chance to strike first. Her hands above her water pouch, she waterbent its contents into a whip, and struck at the monster with a loud CRACK!

It staggered back with an unholy shriek, and landed on its back, still flailing around like it was having a seizure. The waterbender took a step back as it started to spaz out, quite disturbed by its shrieks as it flailed its unnatural limbs uncontrollably.

It was then the creature turned on its 'front' and raised its "arms" at her, snarling like a rabid animal. With a shriek, it charged at her, determined to beat her to death with its limbs.

 _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

Months of training kicked in as she waterbent a whip to keep the creature at bay, making sure to not lose a single drop of water while she continued her assault. Welts turned into cuts as she began to make progress on damaging the monster.

"HYAH!"

With one fluid stroke, the whip turned into one large icicle, before it flew at the demon, piercing it all the way through its unnatural body. The monster roared in agony, taking some sluggish staggering steps, blood pouring out of the wound.

Katara recoiled. ' _Damn it! It's not staying down!'_

She moved to bend more water out of her pouch, only to find that she was now out of water.

Almost as if sensing this, the monster hobbled on its four feet, despite the large icicle pierced through its body. If it had a face, Katara was certain that it would be one full of hate, and yet, victory.

 _FWOOOSH!_

Just as Katara had braced herself for the creature to charge at her, a great wave of fire erupted from behind the monster, engulfing the creature in a sea of flames. It shrieked in agony, its unnatural legs flailing about wildly. It went wild, banging on the walls, floor, and even the ceiling in an attempt to flee from the flames.

Katara had to shut her ears and eyes, its human-like screams bringing her back to _that_ day, when she was a small child. The day that she lost her mother…

And suddenly, the screams were over. She opened her eyes, and gagged, finally seeing and smelling the result.

The creature was dead, its charred, unnatural body still smoking from the ground. It took everything for Katara to keep herself from throwing up from the sight and smell of the creature. Despite the fact that it was obviously trying to kill her, she couldn't help but feel pity for the creature - whatever it might've been.

"Hey! Are you alright?" A new voice called out from the darkness, making Katara jump in fright.

"Huh!?" Katara uttered.

From what little light that it emitted from its source, a firebender stood over the creature, staring at the young girl in worry. The person was a man, and was obviously from the Fire Nation, as he wore a red shirt and red pants, along with flat shoes. His hair was short and dark, raven colored, and his face actually looked quite handsome. Speaking of his face, the firebender expressed a look of alarm and concern, his visage shown thanks to the flame he conjured up in his palm.

"Uh…" Katara didn't know this was friend or foe, so she kept her guard. "Um, yes…"

The man smiled in relief. "That's good." He then began looking around the decaying hallway. When he laid eyes on the burnt dead body of the monster in front of him, his expression... changed somewhat. It turned into a mixture of hate and...shame?

He looked up at Katara. "Are you alone?"

Katara, still not knowing what to expect from this man, answered, "I think so."

The man nodded. "Okay then…" He looked behind him for a moment to see if anything was there. Once he did that, he said, "My name is Jemusu. What's your name?"

"Um...Katara." The waterbender said with a small bit of caution.

Jemusu nodded with a smile. His demeanor appeared to be peaceful so far, and he didn't seem to give off a dangerous vibe. Katara felt like she could let her guard down, but only a little.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Katara…" Jemusu looked down at the dead creature for a moment, almost like he's studying it. "...Did you used waterbending on this thing?"

Katara looked down at the deceased monster. "I did…" she looked up at Jemusu, "You're a firebender."

Jemusu nodded. "I am. And that means you're a waterbender?"

"Yeah…" She took one last glance at the dead monstrosity. "What is this...thing?"

The firebender looked down at it, and stayed silent for a couple of seconds, until he said, "I...don't know. There were a few that came after me, but...I took care of them."

Katara blanched at this. "There's _more_ of these?"

"...Yeah." Jemusu stood there for only a second, before he looked at Katara and asked, "How did you get here?"

"I...I just woke up in one of these rooms in this hallway." Katara answered.

"Hmm. Same here, actually." Jemusu muttered. "Are you trying to get out of this infirmary?"

"Yeah. Do you know where an exit might be?"

"Well...I think I do."

Katara looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, as I said, I woke up here on this level, but I was in a different hallway. I'm thinking this is the second floor, because when I went down one level, I found a door that may be the way out. However...the door is sealed up by chains."

"Sealed up by chains?" Katara asked questionably.

"Yeah. The door had lots of chains covering it. I tried melting them with my firebending for a while, but…" Jemusu looked a little perturbed. "...the chains remained undamaged."

"They didn't melt off?" Katara asked Jemusu, slightly bewildered at his statement.

"No. I gave it everything I had, but they still remained intact..." Jemusu's words trailed off as he pondered for a moment. "Do you have any water with you?"

"Um, no, that's all I had." Katara told him, looking back at the burnt corpse at their feet. The icicle had long been evaporated, and it would take a while for her to collect the same amount of water from the air.

"Damn." Jemusu mumbled and looked down to think of anything else. "...Follow me to the ground level. I'll show you the door."

Jemusu turned away from her and began walking down the hallway. Katara, not wanting to be left alone in the dark with the burnt corpse, began to walk around the leg-monster, but not before she quickly picked up the candle holder and the still lit candle off the floor. She carefully placed the burning candle on the candle holder, and followed Jemusu down the hallway.

The firebender stopped halfway in his walk to let Katara catch up. Once she did, he said to her, "Keep close and keep your candle lit. You'll probably need it if we ever split up."

Katara blanched. " _Split up_?"

She didn't like the sound of that. She didn't want to face anymore leg monsters since she doesn't have any water…

Seeing her horrified expression, Jemusu reassured her, "But I don't think we have to...at least not yet." he said awkwardly, "But just follow me to the door. It really could be our only way out."

"Okay…" Katara said uneasily. They began to walk again through the hallway, their respective lights glowing from their source of heat.

As they walked, Katara and Jemusu both fell quiet. Not liking the silence, Katara decided to strike up a conversation with this man. "Um...do you live on this island? This town?"

"Hm?" Jemusu turned his head to her as they walked. "Oh, uh, no. I was…"

He stopped walking.

Katara also stopped, wondering why he had done so. She asked a little hesitantly. "You were…?"

Jemusu kept silent for a second, until he asked. "How...uh, how old are you?"

Blinking at that, Katara answered, "I just recently turned fifteen."

"...Hm. Do _you_ live in this town?"

"Um, no. I was here to look for…" Her eyes widened as she made a realization.

A firebender. Clothes that look worn and drab. A person _not_ from this island…

"...I was here to look for someone." Katara said, feeling a bit nervous, but didn't show it.

"Oh...well, you said you woke up here in the infirmary. What were you doing before coming here?" Jemusu asked her.

"I was...looking for that someone with my friends, and then we...started to feel tired all of a sudden. We couldn't stay awake and blacked out. I remembered hearing some sirens, I think." Katara recalled.

"Sirens?" Jemusu turned around to face her with a confused expression. "Well, I remembered being kind of sleepy too. I was...I was with my friends as well. We were sitting on a bench and...we just slept there. I didn't hear any sirens though. And that's when I was in a room in this infirmary."

"Yeah, same for me." Katara then thought about something that he said. "You were with your friends?"

"Yeah. I...consider them as friends." Jemusu said, almost a little hesitantly. "...Were your friends looking for this person as well?"

"Y-Yeah…" Katara felt a little anxious all of a sudden. She's now in a building with a stranger - maybe even an escapee from the _prison_ \- and she doesn't know if she said too much.

Jemusu stood there, almost as if he was studying her. "...I'm…" He looked to his left, his mind seemingly in thought as his expression turned unsure.

Katara inaudibly gulped, feeling trapped in this building with not only strange horrifying-looking creatures, but a potential enemy. And she has _no water source_ with her.

The man stood there still for a couple of more seconds, until he said softly, "I...might as well confess that I'm...looking for someone as well."

Katara's eyebrows rose in interest. "You are? Who?"

"...My wife." He slightly winced.

Katara blinked in shock. "Oh." She didn't expect that. "You're...married?"

"...Yeah." Jemusu said, frowning with a pained expression.

' _I know I shouldn't lie, but I can't risk telling her the truth. I don't even know if she knows where I really came from…'_

He then turned his head to look back at Katara, who looked to have an expression that could be a mixture of intrigue and pity.

Either way, Jemusu decided to go along with it. He might as well, what choice does he have? "She...went missing for three days. It was then I…got a letter from her."

Katara's eyes widened in shock. "A letter? We…" She paused for a moment and thought about Zuko's mother.

' _Well, we're actually looking for Zuko's mother as well. Hmm...I can use that as a cover on this guy to see if he's who I think he might be. And it's basically the truth...'_

"Uh, Katara?" Spoke out Jemusu, breaking out of her thoughts. She sees that he's looking at her now.

"Um, sorry, it's just...well, it's just that we received a letter from the person we're looking for as well." Katara told him

Now Jemusu blinked, his face showing bewilderment. "Wha...really?"

' _Wow...it-it worked?'_ The man thought, baffled.

Katara nodded. "We're looking for my friend's missing mother. She sent him a note from here to meet her on this island."

Jemusu couldn't believe the luck he was having, but kept his tone even. "Oh...wow. Uh...I, uh, I guess that means we're searching for someone very important then."

"Yeah..." Katara studied him. She could sense the man's uncomfortable stance as he shifted his feet.

Feeling awkward, Jemusu turned his head to look behind him. "Well, um...in that case, we, uh...we should probably get going."

"Yeah...we should." Katara agreed.

They continued to walk through the hallway, until they reached some wooden stairs for them to walk down on. As they reached the first floor, Katara can see that this floor was even filthier than the last floor.

"Ugh. This building's seen better days." Katara muttered.

"Yeah...I don't like infirmaries." Jemusu said out of the blue.

Katara turned her head to Jemusu with a curious glance. "Why's that?"

"...I just...don't." Jemusu said a little cryptically, looking like he was recalling a bad memory that he rather doesn't want to share.

While puzzled and curious for answers, Katara decided to hold her tongue. If he was who she thought he was, then it would be best to not push him to tell her anything else, especially since she had just admitted that she was out of water.

Jemusu glanced at the waterbender and could see that Katara looked confused, so he decided to elaborate. "My...well, my wife was...treated _poorly_ at an infirmary we were once in. She was...sick one time..." He frowned, looking bothered.

"Oh…I'm...I'm sorry." Katara said, feeling a little bad for even mentioning it. Jemusu really looked troubled, his expression contorted into sadness.

Katara frowned in melancholy, and tried to distract herself by turning her head away to look around in the dark hallway from where she's standing, and from what little light they have. "Well…I'll tell you one thing, I don't like _this_ infirmary."

Jemusu lips quirked up as he gave a slight chuckle. "Agreed."

Katara turned her head to look and study him for a moment. From the way he acted, he doesn't seem to act like a convicted felon. In fact, he acted just like any other ordinary person…

But she was still cautious. As she learned from her journey, you can't judge a scroll by its cover.

"Um...is something wrong?" Her thoughts were broken as she realized she was staring at him a little too long.

"Oh, uh, n-nothing!" Katara lied hastily. "So, um, you said your wife was m-missing?"

Jemusu looked taken aback, "Y-Yeah. Her name w-...her name is Mari."

"Mari? That's a beautiful name." Katara complimented.

"Thank you. She-...she's a beautiful woman." Jemusu muttered somewhat solemnly, something that Katara noticed. He looked forward and said, "Up ahead is the exit. Follow me. I'll show you what I mean when I say these chains can't seem to break."

Katara followed Jemusu down another filthy hallway full of patient rooms on each side. Each of their light sources were shining dimly but produced enough light to let them see forward. Once they reached the end of the hallway, the waterbender could see what Jemusu meant.

The large sliding door was, in fact, sealed by a lot of chains. There seemed to be eight chains, all held by eight knobs, which three knobs were placed on either side of the door, while one was above the door, and the last one being on the floor. The arrangement looked like it formed a star or some sort across the door with a padlock being in the center of the chains. They seem to be held together tightly on each metal knob, basically covering the whole door. Katara couldn't help but stare at the burnt marks that surrounded the chains, which proved the man's words about his efforts to melt it down.

It was certainly odd that there was a door like this, but it was quite evident just from the layout of the floor, that this was their way out of the infirmary.

"Whoa. Someone doesn't want us out." Katara commented as she went closer to inspect the chains. She raised her hand to fully grasp one of the chains and tried to pull it. It didn't budge an inch whatsoever. Katara hummed. "...You said you tried melting these off?"

"Yeah. Watch." Jemusu ignited his other hand, and using both of them, reached out to the padlock to set it aflame. The chains and the padlocks glowed an angry red as Jemusu gave it his all to melt it away. A couple of minutes have passed, and the man finally stopped, now out of breath. The chains and the padlocks glowed orange, but was otherwise undamaged.

Katara's eyes widened as the metal's furious glow quickly died down, until the metal was dull again. "Y-your bending didn't even faze it."

"Yup." Jemusus grumbled. "I even gave it everything I had. That's why I was hoping that we can use our combined bending to try to cut down these chains...assuming they _can_ be cut, that is."

Choosing to not focus on that pessimistic statement, Katara decided to turn her attention back to the door, hoping to find some clues on how to open them. Cautiously stepping close to them again, she lifted her candle to the knobs to see if there was any peculiar detail that can guide them on how to remove the chains.

"It's no use. I already tried looking for other ways to unlock it." Jemusu told her. "As of now, it seems that the only way to remove the chains is to find the key to the padlock."

Katara sighed. "Great…" She looked at the chains again. She grabbed onto them and inspected them. Once she tugged a chain to test it one more time, she said, "These chains _seem_ to be made of ordinary iron..." she turned to Jemusu, "And you tried everything?"

"Believe me, I really did." Jemusu confirmed. "These chains could either be made of some strong metal, or…" he groaned, "I just don't know. All I know is that we have to find some key to maybe unlock this thing. It could be the only way out of this filthy hellhole."

Humming in agreement, Katara looked back at the hallway behind them, staring at the seemingly endless number of rooms.

"How about we search for something in these rooms?" Katara suggested. "I'll take the left side, and you take the right side. I mean, chances are, we'll probably find something useful to us. Like food or water or any other supplies really."

"Good idea." Jemusu nodded.

With that, they temporarily parted ways to search inside the dark rooms.

* * *

They met back together, and showed each other the spoils of their dirty work. Together, the two of them scavenged a rusty pair of scissors, some medicinal herbs, bandages, alcohol, a broken pipe, rusty scalpels, and an axe.

"No key, huh?" Jemusu asked.

"No water either." Katara sighed. "Well, I did find this metal pipe. It should help keep me safe until I find some more. Hopefully this thing is durable than it looks."

Jemusu nodded with a small smile. "Well, I can still watch over you if you ever need any help."

Katara looked at the man with a slight blush on her face, which was thankfully masked by the man's fire. "Heh, thanks. I appreciate that."

"No problem." The firebender said, giving a full smile for once. With the flame still hovering above his palm, he moved his hand around to illuminate the walls to see if there was anything to note. Upon lighting up a part of the wall that was a little ways to the left side of the chained door, he frowned, and squinted at something in the dark. "Hey...what is that?" Jemusu said as he pointed to it.

Turning to where he was pointing, Katara saw something as well. They walked closer to what he was referring to, and eventually discovered that it was a map on the wall.

"It's...a map of the infirmary." Katara mumbled.

While time hadn't been so kind to the map, it was thankfully still intact enough for them to be able to read off of it, as well as to figure out where they were.

"Hmm...there's no glass encasing it...wait." Jemusu said as he looked at the first floor section. He made sure not to let his flame get too close to the map so it wouldn't burn it.

There was a red 'x' mark on where it said, "You are here" in red lettering over the spot where they were supposedly standing on right now on the first floor. The first floor diagram had multiple patient rooms, a doctor's office, and a larger room to its left, with that room being dubbed "operation room." There were even diagrams for the second and even a third floor on the map.

However, the most peculiar thing about this map was that there were more written text on the diagram of the first floor. Written in red ink, the words "Get this first." was written in the operation room, along with a red arrow pointing to a space in the area.

Jemusu and Katara blinked.

"'Get this first'?" Katara asked out loud.

"Strange...I wonder who wrote that?" Jemusu asked himself.

"Well... whoever wrote that seems to know something. Do you think we should go to the operation room?" Katara asked with a bemused shrug.

"Well, it's worth a shot" Jemusu shrugged back.

Katara hummed as she glanced at the floor. She then turned her attention to the pipe in her hand. She frowned, feeling helpless without her water to bend and control.

Jemusu noticed that Katara was looking at her metal pipe with a frown and decided to reassure her. "Hey. I meant it. I'll watch over you."

The girl turned to Jemusu. "Oh. Well...I can use it. It's just that I'm not much of a close-range fighter. That's more of my brother's forte."

"Oh, you have a brother?" Jemusu asked in interest.

"Yeah. He's older than me by one year." Katara said with a slight smile, but soon turned into a solemn expression. "...I hope he's okay."

"What do you mean?" Jemusu asked.

Startled by the question and silently cursing herself for saying that part out loud, Katara decided to come clean on one fact. "I...I'm split up by my brother. He's probably lost here on this island as well."

"Oh…who, uh...who else is with you?" Jemusu asked her a little uncomfortably.

"Just...well, it's me, my brother, and a few of my friends. We're helping one of our friends on searching for his mother. We came with him, because we didn't know what was waiting for us…"

"Oh…I see." Jemusu nodded. "Well...I hope you and your friends find her, for your friend's sake."

Katara looked at him for a moment, until she gave him a smile. "Thanks."

Jemusu smiled back. He then looked behind him and stared down the dark hallway for a couple of seconds. "...Well, we should get moving."

"Right." Katara nodded in resolve. They walked down the path, both flames alit and guards up in case anything came at them.

Both of them were silent as they made their way down the dark hallway. They jumped at every little sound, fearing another monster coming their way.

After two minutes of silence, Katara decided to break the ice yet again. "Those… _things_ that we fought...are they...do you think they were spirits?"

Jemusu paused for a moment and glanced down in thought. "...I don't know. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't natural."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Katara muttered. She scrunched up her face at the thought of the leg monster. "It's just so hard to believe that it was real, even though we just killed it. I mean - it didn't even have a head! It was just two pairs of legs!"

"Hm…" Jemusu hummed in agreement. Katara, however, failed to notice the look of slight guilt on his face.

"How many did you kill?" Katara asked him.

Jemusu, startled by her question, shook his head to clear any unwanted thoughts and said, "Um, I think three, the most recent one being the one that attacked you."

"Oh..." Katara was a little impressed. "Um...did you...kill the other two with your firebending?"

"Yeah...well, actually, the first one was still clinging onto life as it was trying to stand, even while it was burning into a crisp. It was still weakened though, so, I kicked it. It fell, and...I had to make sure it stayed dead…" Jemusu grimaced. "...I stomped the thing to death…It…" He closed his eyes, trying to drown out the image altogether. "...It was _disgusting_."

"Oh." Katara had just realized how careless she was on asking that question. "I'm...I'm sorry."

The man kept his eyes closed as he tried to not throw up again, remembering the gore he spread under his feet when he stomped on the monster.

"...Have you ever had to kill anyone before?"

The waterbender's eyes widened at the sudden question. "What?"

Realizing what he had just said, he cleared his throat. "No, I-I meant any _thing_ , not any _one_. I mean, not that I'm saying killing is good, but - uh, well...You've been in dangerous conflicts before, right?"

Katara blinked. "Oh, um..."

"I mean, that creature you faced just a while ago might've counted, and you did pierce it with an ice spear, so I guess you would've killed it. But either way, I - I guess that would've counted as a...dangerous encounter…" Jemusu shifted, feeling more awkward with every word that came out of his mouth. "I-I'm sorry, I was - I was just wondering."

Katara said nothing; the young waterbender being lost in her thoughts. She began to look back at her life, remembering all the times that she might've been pushed to kill. She remembered all the times that they fought against the Fire Nation, but not even the encounter with Azula came close to her considering death for her enemy.

Then she remembered the time that she almost took the life of Yon Rha, the man responsible for the death of her mother. _She_ wasn't in any danger, but that man certainly was, with mercy being the only reason why he got to go home to _his_ mother.

"I...well…" She looked up at Jemusu to answer him. "No. I haven't killed anyone."

Jemusu turned to look at the girl, his facial expression looking somewhat confused, yet intrigued by her hesitant answer.

"I mean, even after everything we've been through, with the 100-Year War and whatnot, I've never felt the need or want to actually take a life, save for the time I met the man that took my mother's life. But even then, I couldn't actually bring myself to kill the man."

"...Oh." The firebender stared at her, almost studying her expression as well as her stance when she said that.

The waterbender stood there in silence for a moment, until she turned to look at Jemusu again. "I'm really sorry you have to carry that burden."

Jemusu's eyes widened.

"I mean, I'm sorry you feel like you had to kill in order to survive." Katara quickly added. Jemusu's expression softened at this.

Silence filled the air as Katara waited for him to say something. Anything.

"Katara..."

The girl's body froze when he called her name. Terrified, she slowly looked at Jemusu.

The man was looking at her with a blank expression on his face, almost as if he was trying not to show any emotion. However, she thought she saw something in his eyes. It looked like...pain.

"...I…" Jemusu looked down. "...I appreciate you consoling me, but...you don't have to." He winced, as if saying the words was poison to his throat. "I-I mean, it's just…" He sighed. "...You don't have to worry about me. I've... I've made peace with it, really..." He frowned at his choice of words.

Katara felt guilty of ever bringing it up. "I-I'm really sorry, I didn't mean-" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widened as she saw something move in the darkness behind Jemusu.

The firebender caught the alarmed look on her face and turned around swiftly to see what she had seen up ahead. As he quickly turned, the flame in his palm moved around, but it was still kept intact as it lit up a portion of the hallway in front of him.

But there was no one there…

...Until something in the dark moved.

They heard something...footsteps.

They sounded sluggish, like they were being dragged with each step.

Katara tensed as she gripped her metal pipe, raising it in front of her for protection. Jemusu also got ready to fight, his legs spread apart as he went to a firebending stance, the fire still in his palm as he made it brighter to light up the way forward.

The dragging footsteps grew closer…

"Hello?" Katara nervously called out, squinting into the darkness. She saw a staggering figure hobble towards them, the being making some strange noises…

Jemusu held out his arm and hand behind him to keep her back.

SCRATCH. SCRATCH. SCRATCH.

The figure moaned as it stumbled into the light. Jemusu's eyes widened, his mouth dropped in disgust and horror. Katara nearly shrieked as she saw this new abomination getting close to them.

The figure dragged and shuffled its feet towards them…

"Dear _Spirits_ …" Katara whispered in shock and disgust.

Jemusu also couldn't look away…

The body of this figure...looked _too_ _familiar_.

* * *

 **= Toph =**

 **12:00 PM**

* * *

...Infinite darkness.

It was all she could see.

"Mmph…"

...She was on a bed.

"What the…?" Muttered the little earthbender girl. She slowly sat up from her lying position and held herself by her hands behind her on the bed.

She rubbed her hands against the covers. Feeling something on her hands, she smacked the bed she was laying on, making it erupt a cloud of dust.

"ACK! * _Cough_ *, * _Cough_ *!" She coughed, the dust irritating her nose. "ACHOO! Ugh! Okay, bad idea."

As Toph wiped her nose with her wrist, she realized something else was off.

Reaching from behind her, she felt her hair flowing down her back like water...

Her hair was down.

"Hey, where's my headband!?" Toph exclaimed.

"Ugh...keep it down, will ya?" Said what sounded like a muffled woman's voice.

Toph froze at the voice. She slid to the edge of the bed and placed her feet on the wooden floor. "Hello?" She called out.

Once she put her feet down on the floor, her feet sensed that she was in a small room. A room with a bed…and a closed sliding door in front of the bed.

"Huh? Who...Who's there?" The woman asked, her voice muffling through the wall.

"Hey, can you hear me!?" Toph raised her voice.

"Ugh, yeah...Wait, where am I?" The woman asked in confusion.

Toph slammed her foot to double-check where this woman is. Conveniently enough, the woman was right next to her room. "I think we're in some sort of…inn. Just hold on, I'll be over there in a second!"

Living her whole life as a blind girl taught her that the tone of a person's voice spoke volumes about them. In this case, Toph noticed that she sounded confused and tired, which was understandable, given the situation. However, she also noticed that she was scared, which made _her_ a bit tense.

The little earthbender went to the door and slid it open, going to the other room next to hers. Once she found the door handle, she opened the other room's door. There was a gasp emitting from the woman when Toph opened the door swiftly.

"Uh…" The woman was at a loss of words, staring at the young girl in front of her. "You're...a little girl."

Toph raised an eyebrow, "Uh, yeah, and you're a woman. Am I right on that?"

"Uh...y-yeah." The woman was silent, as she looked around the room a bit. "You said...this is an inn?"

"Yeah. And it looks like we're the only ones here." Toph confirmed.

"At the inn?" The woman asked, a little befuddled. "Wait...what...what _am_ I doing here? I was...I was with my...my friends…" She sounded unsure about that.

Toph sensed her uncertainty, but thought nothing of it as there were more pressing matters to attend. "I'm just as confused as why _I'm_ here as well, so I guess we're in the same boat, lady."

The woman looked at the girl in surprise. "What? You mean...wait…" Her eyes narrowed, "What's your story, kid?"

"My story?" Toph blinked her unseeing eyes. "What do you mean? I'm just trying to know where I am, and find my friends on this weird island."

Now the woman blinked. "You mean...you're not in this inn because…?" Her voice died there, not finishing the statement.

"...Because what?" Toph tilted her head at the woman in curiosity.

"Um…" The woman shook her head. "Nothing." She then picked up a candle holder, which was, curiously enough, already lit. She got up from her bed and asked, "What's your name, kid?"

Still a little curious about what she was getting at back there, she decided to just let it go for now. "Toph."

"Hm." The woman nodded. "The name's Meira."

The earthbender nodded back. "So just to get this out of the way, I'm not the only one that was probably dragged anywhere, right?"

Meira looked at her oddly. "Uh…I, um, I guess so, yeah." She then saw that Toph's eyes were a little cloudy and hazy. "Hey...are you...?"

"Blind?" Toph finished her question. "Yep." She waved her hand in front of her face.

"Oh…" Meira frowned. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Hey, look, it's not a big deal, Lady. Just treat me like you treat your friends, and we'll be okay, alright?"

Meira's brow arched at Toph's carefree attitude. "Uh...okay..."

Toph nodded. "Good. Now hold on a second." She stomped her foot to see her surroundings.

The woman blinked. "Um…"

"It's how I see." Toph explained without turning her head at her.

"Oh...uh...alright." Meira said, a little confused, but decided to just roll with it.

"Hmm…hold on. Just zip it for a moment." Toph told her so she can listen with her ears as well. "...Huh, that's weird."

"What's weird?" Meira asked her curiously.

"...There's no one around here." Toph said.

Meira once again blinked. "How can you tell?"

"Really good ears. Also, I can feel the vibrations through my feet. Seismic hearing, if you want to get fancy."

"Oh...wow. That's...wow, that's really amazing." Meira said, her eyes starry with wonder.

Toph couldn't help but smirk. "Yep. I'm the best earthbender in the world."

"You're an earthbender?" Asked Meira dubiously. It was then she finally noticed her green outfit and her porcelain-like skin. "Wait...you _are_ from the Earth Kingdom."

"Yeah." Toph turned her head to the woman. "What of it?"

"Uh...what are you doing out here in Fire Nation territory? I mean, the war is over, but...well, where are your parents?"

The girl frowned at that. "...They're back home."

"Back home?" Meira asked in confusion. "Wait, how...how did you even get here then? This whole place, besides the five residents here, is pretty much abandoned, right? Also, this is an island, so how did…?"

Toph was silent for a moment as she comprehended her words. She blinked as she just realized something.

"...You're not from this island, are you?"

"Um...well, no, I'm...I'm actually not." Meira confirmed.

The young girl's eyes narrowed at the ground.

' _Is this lady one of the prisoners?'_ She asked herself.

"You said that there were five other people who live in this town, right?"

"Um…yeah. You didn't meet them?" Meira asked quizzically.

"No..." She paused for a moment as she devised some form of lie she can use to mask her identity. "...As for what I'm doing here, me and my friends decided to travel around the world after the war was done with. We were just exploring around some places and...well, we stopped here. We went to see if there was anyone here in this town, but it seemed like it was empty."

"You and your friends were...traveling? After the war?" Meira asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, me and my friends thought it would be a good time." Toph said it like it was no big deal.

Meira looked at the little girl warily. "Who are you and your friends exactly? And where do you live in the Earth Kingdom? And...how did you and your friends even get to this island? By boat?"

' _Crap, she's asking too many questions.'_ Thought Toph as she considered telling the lady to stop asking so many questions, but she held her tongue.

Instead, she decided to go with a mix of both the lie and the truth. "Yeah, by boat. And okay, _okay_ , I'm from a wealthy family, so me and my friends were on my family boat." She didn't feel like this woman was dangerous enough to hurt her thanks to the tone of her voice a while ago. "As for where I live, that ain't none of your business."

"Okay, okay, just curious." Meira said with her hands up in defense.

"Yeah, I bet you were." Toph rolled her sightless eyes.

Meira, a little offended, frowned at her tone. "Hey, this island is _supposed_ to be abandoned. I'm just asking."

Toph realized that this conversation was quickly turning hostile. "Okay, sorry. I just...learned to not trust a lot of strangers."

She waved at her useless eyes.

Meira's face softened at this. "Well...you're wise on that, kid."

Toph raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and took the compliment. "Thanks." She stood there silent for a second and said, "So, since you asked me where I'm from, where are _you_ from then, Lady? And how did you get to this abandoned island? I doubt you were just kicking it here, unless you _really_ like the quiet."

Upon realizing that she _had_ said a little too much, Meira's eyes widened in surprise. "I-uh-I'm... I'm from Capital City in the Fire Nation, and...I was, uh...um…" She couldn't think of anything on the spot.

' _Yep. She's a prisoner. I have to gain her trust though, so I need to keep lying.'_ Toph mused in her head. She started saying, "Okay, look, nevermind. Sorry, I shouldn't ask either. I mean, we're both dragged in by someone, I don't think now's a good time to be getting the lowdown on one another."

Meira blinked at the little girl, but she gladly took the excuse. "Uh, right."

Toph nodded. "Alright then. Now follow me. I know where the exit is."

"You do?" Meira asked in bewilderment. "But...you said-"

"Again, it's how I see. Part of my seismic hearing thing. I can map out certain parts of places with a stomp of my foot. Now come on, let's go!" Toph then walked outside of her room and waited there for Meira to come.

Once again, Meira blinked, and then she chuckled while shaking her head. "You're really something, Kid."

Smirking, Toph said, "Keep complimenting me like that, and we'll get along just fine."

Meira smirked back and walked out of the room, following the blind earthbender through a hallway of rooms that are to their left side.

While the two girls were walking through the hallway, with Meira still holding the candle holder in her hand, Toph began another conversation. "So, you said you were with your friends?"

"Um...yeah, I did." Meira told her. ' _Well, they're kind of my friends…'_

"Hm. What was the last thing you and your friends were doing before you got dragged here?"

"Well, we were sitting on a bench because we were tired of walking around town, and then...well...we slept there." Meira said, feeling a little silly upon admitting that.

Toph paused in her walk as she slightly turned her head to Meira. "So...you and your friends basically were all conked out?"

"...Uh, yeah. You can say that." Meira muttered a little sheepishly.

"...Me and my friends were tired too before I was dragged here." Toph admitted. "We were in the town as well."

"Really?" Meira asked, a little surprised, but soon turned interested. "You mean you were all here at the eighth hour in the morning?"

Now Toph fully turned to 'look' at Meira oddly. "Eighth hour in the morning? We got here by the eleventh...I think. That's what, uh...one of my friends had said. Either way, we've been walking to find the town for about an hour."

"You got her by the eleventh?" Meira's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, then...what time is it now? That would mean we've been asleep on that bench for three, probably four whole hours!"

Toph blinked. "Okay, first of all, wow, you guys are _really_ heavy sleepers. Secondly, you're asking the wrong person for time. What does it look like now from where you're standing?"

Meira looked around the hall that they were in. She seems to notice that there are circular windows that have a design on them...and outside these windows, there was nothing but pitch blackness. "Wait...it's dark.." She said in surprise. "How...How long have we slept?"

"Hmm…" As Toph was about to muse about that, she then perked up in alarm.

Upon seeing the little earthbender was alert, Meira asked, "What?"

"Shh!" Toph shushed her as she listened in, her ears trying to pick up the source of the sound…

...It sounded like light shuffling, like an animal was nearby. It also sounded like there was a slight heartbeat in the background...

Frowning at the sound of the strange heartbeat, she focused on that one sound.

"...That's...strange." Toph said quietly.

"What is?" Meira spoke quietly as well.

"...I heard something... _moving_ in the next hall in front of us. Specifically in one of the rooms."

Meira looked on ahead with what little light the candle gave, and amongst the darkness, she could see a doorway that did lead to another hallway.

Toph felt a little unsure as she stood there. She listened to the sound again to see if she can pinpoint on what and where it could be.

 _...SHFFT...SHFFT...SHFFT…_

Meira could also soon hear it in the quiet silence.

"I...I can hear that too." Meira said nervously.

Toph stood her ground, but let her right hand touch her meteor arm bracelet that was wrapped around her left bicep, unwrapping while bending it and formed in her hands to make a medium-sized metal dagger. Meira saw this in the light, and was astounded by what she just did.

"Whoa, hold on. Was that...was that metal you just bent?" Meira asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. I can metalbend."

"...Damn, kid, you're impressing me every minute."

' _Heh, I'm really starting to like this Meira lady, even if she is a prisoner.'_ Toph smirked. "Thanks." She then thought of something else to ask her. "Can you bend?"

After a second-long pause, Meira replied despondently. "No. But I can still fight."

"Okay then. Well, just to give you a heads up, there's not exactly a lot of metal and earth here, so I can't really do much with what little I can bend. That means you're going to have to watch my back."

"Um...okay." Meira felt a little unsure.

"Don't worry, I really think the sound is in one of the rooms, a little far to the right. That means we can corner whoever is in there for questioning." Assured Toph.

"Uh, sure...alright then." Meira still felt a little uncertain. "Say, uh...why don't I hold onto that dagger you got there?"

Toph turned her head to Meira to give her a wary look.

Realizing how that sounds, the older woman corrected herself. "I mean, you're the one who can bend, and...I got nothing really. I mean, I'm not good in a fist fight.

"...How about this?" Toph walked back inside of her own room.

CRUNCH! SHRIEK! CRUNCH!

Meira flinched at the sound of metal being torn. Curious, she peeked her head inside, and saw that Toph ripped apart a small metal desk that was next to her bed, and was pounding it into her desired shape.

About a half a minute went by, and Toph walked back out with a crude looking sword.

"Now we're ready." Toph told Meira, who in turn just looked at her new blade and at the little girl, bedazzled.

"...Okay, you're hardcore, kid."

Toph couldn't help but smirk broadly. "You know, I think we're gonna get along _just_ fine."

* * *

As soon as they entered through the opened doorway, the two girls silently made a right and crept through the hall to slowly approach one of the rooms that was one room over near another closed doorway.

Toph's grip on her dagger tightened as they grew closer to the source of the shuffling sounds. The closer they go to the source, the more she was able to better see the source of the noise.

The problem was that the closer they got to the source, the more she began to question her sanity.

For one, the shuffling noises sounded...artificial, in a sense. She didn't notice it before, but the closer they were getting, the more "fake" the shuffling noises sounded. If she had to describe it, it sounded like an entire bed frame was being constantly shifted side to side.

That didn't make much sense, unless…

Toph began to suspect that this may turn out to be a sudden rescue mission. She began to think that maybe someone was tied to the bed, and was desperately trying to get out. The reason why she didn't share this theory, however, was the fact that she couldn't really see if there _was_ somebody on the bed.

This is what made Toph scrunch her face in confusion. There wasn't anyone on the bed, and yet, the bed was doing the moving, and on top of that, the heartbeat seemed to be coming from the bed. It was weird. The facts contradicted themselves-

' _Unless the bed IS the source of the heartbeat.'_ The idea of a bed running towards them made her shiver.

Shaking her head, the little earthbender braced herself as they made it to the front of the door. Behind it lied the source of the noise, and hopefully the answers to the mystery of it's confusing existence.

Staying very still, the little girl stood there quietly, listening and feeling for the insides of the room.

...It turned silent all of a sudden. Toph did not like that one bit

' _Why would the guy be quiet now?'_ The blind earthbender thought as the silence dragged on.

Seeing that now would be a better time than any, Toph waved her hand to get Meira's attention. The woman looked at Toph, while the girl gave Meira a hard look, indicating that now would be the time to act. She raised up her free hand to hold five fingers and counted them down.

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Toph grabbed the handle of the sliding door, sliding and pushing it open.

Both girls quickly went inside the one room to see who's inside.

...There was no one there.

"No one's here." Meria said, looking around.

"What!?" Toph whispered harshly in confusion and irritation.

"All I see is just...a dirty looking bed." Meira said, her voice going back to its normal volume.

Toph's face morphed into bewilderment. "What? You mean…" Her voice was now at her natural tone as well. "No one's really there? Not even like an outline of someone in the sheets?"

"Uh…" Meira glanced at the bed's surface again to see if she can actually spot anyone that looked to be underneath the covers. "Um...no, I don't think so."

Toph looked baffled. "But...someone _is_ here. I can still hear the heartbeat!"

Meira turned her head to the earthbender in uncertainty. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. My senses are _never_ wrong." Toph said with determination.

Meira looked back at the bed in hesitation. Looking at the mattress again, it really looked dirty, with all the brown and reddish looking…

' _...Something doesn't feel right about this bed.'_ Meira thought.

That was the understatement. It reminded her of too many unwanted memories...

As she was distracted by those thoughts, Toph, who was still perplexed, stood there thinking, ' _There IS a heartbeat in the bed...but then...why would it be?'_

Toph took a few steps towards the bed, curiosity getting the better of her.

Upon seeing Toph heading towards it, Meira called out to her. "Wait, kid, I...I don't think you should go near it."

"I can't just leave without knowing _what_ is making this thing have a heartbeat." Toph said as she reached out her hand to touch the bedsheets.

...That soon proved to be a mistake.

Toph's hand retracted as she felt the material of it in revulsion. "Ugh!" She exclaimed in fright and disgust. "What the hell!?"

Meira blinked at her reaction, but gave out a small smile. "Heh, yeah, it looks pretty dirty-"

"Dirty!?" Toph exclaimed again, sounding horrified. "This...This bed feels like...like _skin_!"

"Skin?" Meiria's eyes widened in surprise.

"W-What is thi-" Toph was about to say when…

The 'bed's covers' started to rise slowly up, but...it looked... _wrong_. The "covers" looked...organic. Like it was almost rubber looking...and was it _morphing_ into something. The sickening sound of stretched skin and cracking, popping joints filled the room as it rose from the mattress.

The _thing_ began forming an upper body: a torso, arms, _hands_ , and soon, a neck and a face. When the upper body was done with its contortion and formation, it stood there at the edge of the bed, its face staring at the little earthbender girl.

But the most discernible thing that can be noticed about the "face" was there seemed to be none at all.

The lower part of the face has an opening where the mouth is, but that "mouth" looked like it was smothered up with the skin that was being covered with. And the most disturbing thing was...there were no other facial features. No eyes, ears, or a nose. Just a flesh-covered mouth.

Meira, upon seeing the monstrosity through the candle light, looked at the thing with such shock and horror. She froze, her eyes widened in dread as the morbid-looking creature's upper body began to sway, as if it was trying to gain its bearings after waking up.

It let out a muffled moan as it began to look around the room.

Toph froze at the noise as she looked up at the creature in confusion and mortified wonder.

Meira then began to whisper, "Kid...T-Toph…g-get...get away from it."

Toph didn't appear to hear her as she continued to "stare" at the creature. Never in her life had she encountered something like this. She couldn't move. She couldn't think. She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what was going on.

' _What...what the...what_ is _this?'_ She thought, scared out of her mind.

Then, as the monster kept its stance…

...The upper body lunged at her with its inhuman hands.

"TOPH!" Meira screamed in horror.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 9**

* * *

 **So yeah, sorry for taking so long to get back to this, but now we're here for when things finally start to pick up! ;D Now that we know where Katara and Toph are in(as well as the OC's), we'll be going to Zuko and Iroh in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that! ;) By the way, the monster you've seen is original, as well as the other monsters will be. Although, there is ONE monster from the series that will make an appearance in this story...you should probably know who it is by now. X)**

 **Thanks so much again to Lucius Walker for editing and helping me out with some certain scenes! I really appreciate it, man! :)**

 **With all that said, give me a review, follow, and fave! Help us writing brothers out and tell us how it is! I love to hear what you think of this story so far! :D**

 **Until then, keep on rocking everybody! ^_^**

 **(Also, thanks to this stupid Corona Virus situation, stay inside when you can! Only go out when you REALLY need something! But mostly, STAY INSIDE! D: )**

 **-TSP**


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